


Fast As A Bullet (The Maze Runner)

by Vee_of_nus



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Angst, Completed, Emotional, F/M, Fluff, Glade, Gladers, Love, Nightmares, The Glade, Wicked - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:29:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 37
Words: 82,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26901421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vee_of_nus/pseuds/Vee_of_nus
Summary: The fourth to arrive in the Maze, Leanne had settled nicely. Life was easy, and there was rarely any problems in the safety of the Glade. Well, that is until Thomas arrives, and everything seems to be turned upside-down.Does Leanne have the strength to keep up with these changes, or will she find herself running away as fast as a bullet?
Relationships: Brenda/Frypan (Maze Runner), Brenda/Jorge (Maze Runner), Gally/Thomas (Maze Runner), Jeff/Winston (Maze Runner), Minho/Newt (Maze Runner), Minho/Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner), Minho/Thomas (Maze Runner), Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner), Teresa Agnes/Thomas (Maze Runner), Thomas (Maze Runner)/Original Female Character(s), Thomas/Female OC
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	1. THE MAZE RUNNER

**THE SOUNDS WERE** so loud that the brunette thought her brain would explode. Peeling her eyes open was tough, but she forced herself to do so when the shaking did not stop. She was overwhelmed with darkness and the odd flashing light that passed every couple seconds.

The box wasn't very large. Crates were piled around her, and a cage with what smelt like livestock sat across from her. She could feel the vile substance in her throat begin to rise, maybe even just as quickly as the box, but she swallowed it down before anything could happen.

The box was moving too quickly for her to stand. The girl didn't scream, for she knew no one would hear her over the loud sounds, but she was still panicking. The box showed no signs of slowing down. It was like a rollercoaster; you didn't know how soon the end would come.

When light flooded the box, she was instantly blinded. It almost felt like she was being reborn; shown to the bright hospital lights as a newborn baby with no memories, only a fresh state of mind. It was scary.

A figure stood at the top of the box, looking down at her. She couldn't make out their features, for the sun was too blinding, but she could tell by the broad shoulders that it was a man, or a boy.

The boy sticks his hand out to pull the small girl from the box, but she doesn't move. She feels like she's stuck to the metal floor, in fear and in confusion. How was she here? And why couldn't she remember anything?

Two other figures stood beside the boy with the extended hand. A lanky figure, which she couldn't tell was a boy or a girl, and a taller figure, which she could tell was a boy by his spiky hair.

The boy's hand stayed stretching like that, facing upwards waiting for her to grab on. When she finally did, the boy pulled her up and out of the metal box, letting her drop to the yellowing grass.

Her eyes flicker around the area quickly; there wasn't much to see. A small shack, open fields, a fenced-in area with livestock near a forest and four tall concrete walls.

The brunette looks up at the figure who pulled her out of the box: a tall boy with broad shoulders, an oval face and dark skin, who was obviously the eldest.

Beside him stood the lanky boy with champagne coloured hair, standing smaller than the other two.

The third boy was the spiky-haired figure with tan skin and a smirk that would tease the new girl for days. All three of them looked fairly close to her age.

Her eyes went back to the forest; there was an attraction. She felt like she was being pulled. It was like arms open for a hug, which the girl was ready to fall into.

Glancing over at the three boys who kept their distance from her, the girl takes her chances and pulls herself up to her feet, pushing herself to run. She began to run, but not towards the open concrete doors; towards the forest. The brunette wasn't stupid, the walls were obviously there to keep them in and something else out, and since there was no other place to go she ran there.

She knew she wouldn't get away; the walls surrounding this strange place were everywhere and the only exits she saw weren't where she was headed.

She was close enough to the forest's edge that she thought she would make it, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the spiky-haired boy getting closer. He didn't stop when he reached her and instead rammed into her, sending her crashing towards the group. Pain erupted in her side where they met in contact, but that pain was quickly forgotten when her head hit the ground with a thud. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she could see the spiky-haired boy bending over her, saying something. She couldn't make out what he was saying before her world went dark.

•••

_To some people, the maze was scary. To others, intimidating. To Leanne, the maze was a safe-haven. It was where she loved to run off into and just relax. It was the long, dark, endless paths that brought her comfort. It was the sadistic secrets she'd discover running down the dim hallways. The plain cement surrounding her was where she felt most at home._

_Some would call her weird. Others, an adrenaline junky. In the end, everyone really just called her crazy._

_Of course, being the only girl in a society of boys, she was always viewed as different. Most of the time, it was a good thing. It meant she wasn't as messy, she smelt better than them for sure, and she was more mature. Instead of fighting like the rest of them, she'd think up a solution._

_Leanne was charming. She had every single one of the Gladers wrapped around her finger. It wasn't her gorgeous brown hair, or her warm brown eyes, but the fact that she was easy to be around. She was affable, and that was something nice when it came to living in the Glade._

_Despite all the good things about her, she had her flaws. When she was mad, you didn't want to get in her way. The brunette was feisty, and you'd only learn that the bad way. She was secretive, not in a rude way, but in a way that she wouldn't share much._

_And last but certainly not least, she would always be unpredictable._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This book was originally written on my Wattpad (JarofPickles), and has now been added here to be read.
> 
> I hope you enjoy, lovelies:)


	2. The New Greenie

**_SHE RAN DOWN_ ** _a white hallway, tripping over her feet and falling face first to the ground. Pushing herself off the clean white tiles, Leanne began to run again, picking up her pace. "There's nowhere to go." A woman's voice said out of nowhere. Continuing to run, she looked up to see speakers near the ceiling every couple meters. She turned a corner and ran faster. The sound of footsteps could be heard behind her. She ran past a glass room and got a glance of an empty lab. Pushing the doors open she closed them and ran to crouch behind a counter. She was startled when she looked across the room and saw a person behind glass. The first thing she processed wasn't that the person was being held prisoner, it was what the person looked like. The man, if you could even call it that, had black veins crawling up his face. His skin was a grey, and he had a black liquid dripping down his chin. "The cranks would get you first." The woman said. "You wouldn't want that, would you." Now the woman's voice was close, not coming out of the speakers. Looking across the room to her right, she saw another door. She got up and ran to it as fast as her legs could move, which didn't feel fast enough. She ran down another white hallway, and rounded a corner when she was stopped in her steps. A blonde woman, dressed in all white stood in front of her. "You can't continue this. Just calm down and we'll talk." The woman said, her voice commanding but calm, like a mother telling her child off softly. "What you're doing in the Maze Trials is wrong." She spoke unwillingly, like she was living someone else's dream. Looking towards the glass, however, the reflection she saw was her own, just younger. "If you believe you can help them, then you can do it from inside." The woman nodded her head, and the girl spun on her heels, but was stopped in her tracks due to four men standing in front of her, wearing full black. Two of them grabbed onto her, but she wasn't going down without putting up a fight. She kicked and squirmed but nothing happened. The men had a tight grip on her, and throughout her attempt to get away from them, a searing pain shot down the side of her neck, and she was met with darkness._

_Opening her eyes, she found herself in a round tank of water. There wasn't much space to move around. She started panicking, hitting on the glass. The blonde woman stood on the other side of the tank, watching her with a blank expression. Leanne went to scream, but stopped. She couldn't breath. The oxygen mask on her face had been knocked off, and now the tube leading to the oxygen tank was filling up with water. She held her breath until she couldn't, and then she inhaled water. Unwillingly. She was drowning herself and she didn't mean to. She continued to hit the glass, then let out one loud scream as everything turned black._

Leanne bolts up in her sleep, woken by a screaming. The screaming doesn't stop until she realizes it's her own. Panting, she tries to forget the horrible images she'd seen. Footsteps were heard and Gally rushes into the small cabin she was lucky to call her own.

"Are you okay?" He pants slightly. She nods but he doesn't look convinced. "Another nightmare?"

The brunette nods. "They'll go away for a little, but then they'll come right back. They don't seem to stop." She sits up on the cot, and moves over slightly so Gally could sit beside her.

"Is it the same as the other ones?" He asks as he sits down on the edge of the cot. Leanne shakes her head quickly. "Do you want to tell me about it?" Gally asks politely.

"No, I'm okay." Gally nods and stands up, about to leave to go back to sleep. "Can you stay with me?" She whispers quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. He nods once again, then slips under the covers beside her, wrapping an arm around her to pull her close to his chest.

"You're okay now..." He whispers as she falls into a dreamless sleep.

•••

Later in the morning, Leanne wakes up to an empty space beside her. She groans and stretches out, before standing up and straightening her orange quarter-length shirt and blue overalls. She pulls her brown hair into a messy bun on top of her head and set off towards Frypan's kitchen, quickly finding the rest of the Gladers already sitting, eating breakfast.

She takes a scoop of egg then goes to sit down beside Minho, across from Newt. The boys quiet down as she sits down, and she raises an eyebrow at them. "What? Why're you shanks looking at me like that?" She asks.

A smirk spreads across Minho's face as Leanne puts a spoonful of eggs in her mouth. "Well, we just happened to see Gally leave your cozy little hut this morning." Leanne chokes on her food, taking a sip of her water trying to buy her time.

"So, would you care to explain?" Newt said, raising his eyebrows to give her a look.

Leanne rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "How'd you two sleep?" She asks them, changing the subject.

Minho looks like he's about to tell her off, but Newt bites the bait. "I slept well until I was woken by someone screaming bloody murder." Minho nods in agreement.

"You heard that?" She covers her face with her hands.

"Relax," Frypan says, coming up to sit beside Newt. "It's not like it's the first time." Leanne kicks him in the shins hard and he yelps. "Just for that I'm cooking your _favorite_ meal for dinner, Lee." The boys groan at the mention of the horrible barley soup Frypan had once attempted to make.

"You know, maybe I should try cooking again. Lord knows my cooking wasn't _that_ bad." Leanne suggests, but Frypan is quick to protest.

"I refuse to let you burn down my kitchen again! Last time it happened you singed my eyebrows off!" He exclaims quickly. Newt, Minho and Leane start to laugh at the memory of Frypan without eyebrows, but their laughter is cut short when Gally comes to sit beside the girl.

"So, Gally," Minho looks between her and Gally, raising his eyebrows up an down.

Leanne rolls her eyes, already used to his teasing, and stands up, walking over to Alby. She opens her mouth but he speaks first. "You're not going in the Maze today."

Leanne's smile drops and she frowns. "But why?" She whines, stretching out her words.

"Because every single time you have a nightmare, you end up distracted the next day. I'm not sending you in there alone and distracted." He says demandingly.

"But I'm not alone! I can run with Minho today and-" Alby interrupts the girl.

" _Don't_ push me, Leanne. Or else you won't be allowed to go in tomorrow." She closed her mouth quickly and frowns.

Leanne's morning was filled with odd tasks here and there, like cleaning up her cabin, or helping out in the gardens.

She was pulling weeds out of the garden when the box was heard moving. The boys left their tasks quickly, rushing over box. Leanne took her time, always dreading another person. They'd always eventually point of the obvious; the fact she was the only girl.

She stands up and brushes dirt off her hands and knees, then walks over towards the box just as two boys open the top. She sees Gally disappear into the box as she gets closer. The Greenie is pulled out of the box, and thrown onto the ground whilst boys around him laugh and tease him a little.

"Hey! Let's not forget you've all been Greenies before!" She snaps at them, making them shut up and look at her. "Now, let's give him some space." Everyone takes a few steps back, not wanting to double cross the feisty girl. Before anything else can happen, the Greenie stands up and takes off running.

People laugh and cheer. "We got a runner!" One of the boys calls, but Leanne is too busy watching as he runs towards the wall, unsure of where he's going. She considers going after him, but he trips and falls, then slowly looks up to the wall. He stands up as the boys tease him, clapping. He spins slowly, taking in the four walks surrounding the Glade, and in a sense, she can relate.

She remembers when three years ago she arrived, and after hitting her head, when she woke up, that time the first thing she took in was the labyrinth of walls surrounding the small area. She could remember the day like it was yesterday.

_The brunette woke up on a cot, under a shelter of some sorts. Her head ached, but other than that she felt fine. She sat up and groaned when all the blood rushed to her head. She heard footsteps, but chose to ignore them and instead gape at the four large cement walls surrounding her._

_"I thought for sure you were going to run for the Maze." A male said behind her. "Alby," The man introduced himself before she turned around. She spun around and took in the tall boy. "Do you remember your name? Or anything at all?"_

_"My name is Leanne, and I-" She fumbled for her words. "I can remember some things."_

_Alby nodded, stepping closer to the girl with his hands raised slightly like she was a wounded animal. "What can you remember?"_

_She rubbed her forehead. "I don't really know. It's all really blurry. I remember this beautiful woman, I think she was my mother." Leanne looked around the place, and frowned. "Where is everyone else?"_

_"Newt's gardening, Minho's running the Maze." Alby explained._   
  
_Her frown deepened. "There's no girls?"_

_Alby shook his head. "No, you're the only one. Someone new arrives every month, so maybe another girl will arrive eventually." Leanne nodded. "We each have jobs here, Minho is a runner, Newt is a track-hoe,"_

_Leanne nodded again, then spoke up. "And you?"_

_"I guess you could say I'm in charge of everyone." Alby smiles down at the girl as they walk alongside towards the other shelter. "We don't have a lot done here yet, but once we really get working we will."_

_"Greenie's awake!" Someone exclaims. Leanne looks up towards one boy jogging in their direction. Another boy joins him in coming towards Alby and the new girl. "I'm Minho." The boy with the black hair says, sticking out his hand for her to shake._

_She shakes it hesitantly. "Leanne." She says once she has a boost of confidence._

_The boy who came over with Minho sticks his hand out. "I'm Newt." She shakes his hand and nods._

_She made mental notes on the boys. Minho seemed nice, but the smirk he wore on his face warned the girl that he was certainly one for teasing. Newt's calm voice told Leanne he was nice, calm. She was surprised when he first spoke due to his accent, but she liked it. Alby was obviously meant to be a leader._

After that day, Leanne had become good friend with all the boys. Most of them were like older brothers to her; always looking out for her and keeping her out of harm's way.

The boys had all taught her something. Clint, the Keeper of the Med-jacks, had told her she was a natural. Her first day on the job she'd sewn up an injured Gally, who'd cut his hand open while working a piece of wood. She could've been the Keeper of the Med-jacks, seeing as she was the first one, but Alby had thought it best if someone else was. After disappearing into the Maze for a day -against Alby's orders- Minho had taught her more about the Maze. She was allowed to go in, but only with permission from Alby or Newt, and accompanied by Minho. Winston, Keeper of the Slicers, had offered to teach her how to butcher the animals after having fattened them up, but Leanne refused, saying she didn't have the stomach for it. She'd rather fix someone up instead of tear them apart. Zart, Keeper of the Track-hoes, had brought her to work in the gardens when they'd first officially gotten it set up (not the little patch Newt had been managing when Leanne arrived) and she loved it. There was something about helping things and people -much like being a Med-jack- that fascinated her, and hadn't gone unnoticed by Alby. Most people had thought she'd become a track-hoe because of how much she loved the woods, however she didn't. Anytime someone got injured and Clint wasn't able to help because he was busy, Alby would call in Leanne. The next person who'd gotten her to try something new, had been Gally. After a lot of convincing, he got her to come and try to build something with him. At first, she didn't know what they were working on. She'd just been told to meet him outside the Homestead closer to the tree grove, and he had surprised her. Together, they build her a small cabin, big enough for a cot, and a table with drawers to put little knick-knacks she found here and there (mainly consisting of hair elastics from the box, and other things the box sent). After building her home, Frypan had gotten her to come and try out the kitchen. Everyone had thought she'd do great in there, and she was doing excellent for a while. After a week of working in the kitchen with Frypan, she'd dropped a can of bacon grease over an open flame they were using for cooking, and BAM! Fire had ignited the building, luckily everyone made it out alive. Frypan had minor burns where his eyebrows had been, but they grew back quickly. Leanne now had a long burn mark starting at her wrist and ending at her elbow, covering half the skin with tough pink skin. She'd been burnt when she'd initially dropped the bacon grease, as she'd been too close and the flame had risen quickly. After that incident, everyone had decided it was best for her to stay out of the kitchen.

If you were to ask anyone around the Glade what Leanne was, they wouldn't say a Runner, or a Track-hoe, or even a Med-jack. They would say she's the Queen of the Glade. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily James   
> as  
> Leanne
> 
> "we just don't make any sense,   
> but still you fight for me  
> i keep repeating,   
> repeating the way we shouldn't be"
> 
> I Like (the idea) Of You - Tessa Violet


	3. Familiar Faces

**ONE THING LEANNE** had always disapproved of in the Glade was the strict set of rules. She'd always been a rule breaker, so when it came to telling the new Greenie everything they had to know, she was _not_ the first choice. Actually, she wasn't even a choice at all. She had been ruled out completely. Not that she minded, however. She had better things to do then give someone a tour. So when she saw Alby talking to the new Greenie, she was happy to stay as far away as possible.

Staying as far away as possible didn't mean she wasn't watching, however. So not long later, she watches Chuck and the Greenie as they walk up closer to the Maze. Her back stiffens as she hears Chuck protest, and the new boy says something to him. Minho and Ben come out of the Maze. Ben says something to Chuck, and the younger boy answers as the older one keeps running forwards.

Leanne steps over the basket of vegetables and starts walking at a slow pace towards the two boys. "Chuck," She calls out softly in a warning manner.

Chuck glances over at her wide-eyed and shrugs. Sighing, she picks up her pace, not taking her eyes off the Greenie, who'd taken another step towards the Maze. When she hears Chuck protest again and the Greenie brush him off, Leanne's practically jogging towards them. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Gally running toward the newbie, so she slows her pace, not needing to rush. Gally rams right into the new Glader, sending him away from the opening in the Maze wall and tumbling to the ground.

"Hey!"

"We gotta stop meeting like this, Greenie." Gally says to the brown haired boy.

Leanne rolls her eyes. "Get off me!" The Greenie yells.

"All right!" Gally takes a few steps back raising his hands in surrender. "Calm, calm, calm." The noise attracts other boys, who come over to see what's going on.

"Don't touch me!" Leanne looks over at Newt, who raises an eyebrow at her then she just shrugs.

"Take it easy!"

"Just relax."Leanne calls out.

The boy looks around at everyone around him, and Leanne can't tell if the look in his eyes is him scared, or worried. For any other boy around here she'd know because they've all been around here for a while, but this boy was new. This boy was different; he was familiar, but in a foggy way. 

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" He yells.

"Just calm down, alright?" Newt tries, but the Greenie isn't having it.

"No, okay? Why won't you tell me what's out there?" He looks towards the Maze then back at the Gladers in front of him.

"We're just trying to protect you." Leanne nods reassuringly.

"It's for your own good." Newt points out.

"You guys can't just keep me here." He says. The brunette snorts, considering there's one of him, and _many_ more of them.

Alby takes a small step forwards. "I can't let you leave." He says confidently.

"Why not?" Just as he asks that, the Maze starts to make noises. Shifting her gaze to the wall, Leanne watches as the Maze doors slowly start to close. She glances over at the newbie, chuckling lightly to herself when she sees the look of confusion on his face. "What the hell?" He says when the doors are closed all the way. The boys start to disperse.

"Next time, I'm gonna let you leave." Gally says, walking off with Leanne on his heels.

They walk for a few seconds in silence before Leanne speaks up. "Y'know, you could be nicer with him." Gally raises an eyebrow in her direction and she rolls her eyes. "Come on, it's his first day. He's obviously confused, and probably intimidated by the Maze."

The boy beside her scoffs. " _Please_ , Lee. Intimidated? Is that why he ran for the Maze?"

Leanne rolls her shoulders back, stuffing her hands in her overall pockets. "He's just scared. I know I was when I came out of the box to find myself _literally_ surrounded by boys." She pauses for a minute before continuing. "Plus, there's a lot more boys now than there was before, so it must be even scarier. It doesn't help that everyone looked at him like a piece of meat when he first came out."

"I can't deny it, everyone was excited we had a new Greenie, but he is a boy. It has to be less scarier for him than for you."

Leanne glares at him as they approach the Med-jacks hut. "I'll give you five seconds to rethink what you just said." She warns.

The blond's eyes widen and he corrects himself quickly. "I didn't mean it that way. It's just that it might've been scarier for you not having any memories of hanging with boys, and arriving here surrounded by them, although there was only three when you arrived."

"Eh, you shanks smell, but I've gotten used to it." Leanne teases, leaving his side to enter the hut. 

•••

The bonfire was lit; boys hit the drums in front of them making a loud rhythm, other boys ate and drank, and Leanne found herself wandering around, not in the mood for the festivities.

She approaches Newt and the Greenie, who are sitting on the ground leaning against a log. Leanne sits on the log and takes the jar of the unknown substance from Newt's hand to take a long swig from it. Wincing, she looks over at the other boys around the fire downing as much of the liquid as they can. "I've never understood why you boys love that drink so much."

Newt chuckles and takes the jar back, taking a swig before turning to look at the brown haired boy beside him. "Here, put some hair on your chest." He hands the jar over to him.

The boy takes a sip of it before spitting it back out in front of him. "Oh my God! What is that?" He asks, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I don't even know," Newt responds as Leanne chuckles. "It's Gally's recipe."

"A shitty recipe." She mumbles under her breath.

"Yeah, well he's still an asshole." The Greenie points out, earning an eye roll from Leanne.

"Trust me there's nothing we can do about that. We've tried." She responds. "He saved your life today, though." She adds.

"Trust us, the Maze is a dangerous place." Newt nods.

A silence is spread amongst the three before the Greenie speaks up. "We're trapped here, aren't we?"

"For the moment." Newt and Leanne say at the same time. They look over at each other and smile before looking back at the boy beside them.

"But, you see those guys? There, by the fire?" Newt nods in their direction. "Those are the Runners. That guy in the middle there, that's Minho."

"He's the Keeper of the Runners." Leanne adds.

"Every morning, when those doors open, they run the Maze... mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out." Newt taps Leanne's knee. "Leanne here has gone into the Maze! She's only allowed with Alby's permission of course, and usually Alby makes Minho or one of the other runners go with her. Alby has to let her in here and there so she'll calm down. She gets too agitated sitting around here."

Leanne throws her head back dramatically, sighing loudly. "It's just so _boring_ here. There's nothing to do!" She stands up, and smiles to the two boys. "I'm gonna go." They nod and she turns on her bare heels, walking slowly over to her cabin to get her jug of water to rinse out that god-awful after taste left by Gally's _special_ drink.

Quickly grabbing her water jug and turning to leave, she hears the boys chanting. It's only after a few seconds that she understands what they're chanting. "Greenie! Greenie!" They say over and over again. The girl rolls her eyes and jogs over to the group of boys, who've now surrounded two boys.

Gally and the Greenie stand in the middle of the circle, facing each other. "The rules are simple, Greenie." Gally began. "I try to push you out of the circle... you try to last more than five seconds." While some of the guy laugh, Leanne scoffs and rolls her eyes at Gally's antics. "Ready?" Gally comes towards the Greenie, pushing him back. The boy is caught by some of the other boys surrounding them, and is pushed back towards Gally, who then pushed him to the ground, earning "ohs!" and laughs from some of the boys. "Come on, Greenie. We're not done yet." Gally says, dancing back and forth on his feet.

The brown haired boy pushes himself up, shakes off some of the sand and speaks up for the first time since the fight started. "Stop calling me Greenie."

"Stop calling you that?" They walk around the circle. "What do you wanna be called? Shank?" Some of the boys cheer in agreement, and they keep circling each other. "What do you think, boys? Does he look like a shank?" The boy goes after Gally, but Gally grabs onto him and they rock back, spinning slightly before Gally throws him to the ground. "You know what? I think I've settled on shank." The boys laugh.

The Greenie gets up and comes after Gally, almost like he's hugging his side. Gally holds onto him and walks him backwards, but at the last second the newbie moved out of the way. Gally falls to the ground on his stomach, earning many "oohs" from the boys surrounding them.

Leanne watches the new Glader curiously. "Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" Just as the boy finishes his sentence, Gally swings his leg, hitting the newbie's feet out from under him and making him fall to the ground and hit his head. Leane hears the boy groan, and moves to the front of the circle to get a better view. "Thomas," She hears him mumble. He repeats the name before standing up. "Thomas," He says louder. "I remember my name!" He says loudly. "I'm Thomas!" He yells, looking around at the boys and girl who surround him.

Leanne smiles as the boys yell and cheer around her. The boys push past her to go up to Thomas and pat him on the back, giving him a jar of the brown liquid they all drink. "Good job, Thomas." Gally shakes his hand, but they're interrupted by the loud sound of a Griever screeching.

Everyone quiets down and they all look towards the general direction of where the sound came from. "What the hell was that?" Thomas asks.

"That my friend, was a Griever." Nobody moved from their spots. "Don't worry, you're safe here with us." Gally reassures. "Nothing gets through those walls." He says, not as loudly. Gally walks around him.

"Alright guys, let's tuck it in for the night." Alby says to them. "Alright, goodnight." Alby claps, making them all disperse to leave.

Leanne smiles at Thomas. "Good job, Thomas." She says softly before passing Gally. She smiles mischievously at him.

He raises an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"It's not what I did," She shrugs innocently. "It's what you did."

Gally furrows his eyebrows. "What did I do?"

Walking backwards towards her small hut, Leanne responds. "You called him your friend." 


	4. Early Goodbyes

**_A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN_ ** _stood beside Leanne, along with another little girl. Opposed to Leanne's brown eyes and brown hair, the other little girl had bright blue eyes and black hair. While Leanne was tan, the blue-eyed girl was pale. The beautiful lady held Leanne's hand in her left, and the other girl's hand in her right. They walked up a sidewalk, then turned to walk up a path to a large house. Approaching the front door, Leanne saw her reflection in the glass. She looked around 6 years old. As did the other girl. Almost like a light switching off, everything went black._

_Leanne sat up on a bed, woken up by the sound of screaming. She looked over at the blue-eyed girl who was now awake beside her, fear visible in her eyes. "It's okay. She'll get better, it'll stop." The blue-eyed girl wrapped her arms around Leanne and flattening her messy hair. "It'll stop." She mumbled as everything went dark again._

_Now, she was approaching a door at the end of a long hallway, glancing over at the blue-eyed girl beside her. "The screaming stopped." The blue-eyed girl said. Together, they pushed the door open to reveal a dark room. The windows had been boarded up, covered with wood, and the sheets ripped off the bed. However, that wasn't the first thing she noticed. The first thing Leanne noticed, was the blood. It was everywhere. The beautiful woman was now covered in it too. She sat there, calm. Like the blood didn't phase her. "Girls, I'm feeling much better." The woman said, not facing them directly. "The visions are gone now, too. I've gotten rid of them." She sounded excited, like she could see the light at the end of a dark tunnel. The woman turned on the bed to face them. Blood covered her face too, making it hard to see her features in the already dark room, but if she was squinting, Leanne could see the dark holes where her gorgeous blue eyes should've been._

Leanne inhales sharply, sitting up quickly. She looks around her small hut, seeing the light coming in through the small cracks in the walls. She stands up and brushed her hair from her face, pulling it up in a messy bun. Opening the small door, she walked out to hear nothing. She'd woken up so early that none of the boys were up, with Alby and Thomas as exceptions. She spots them over at the Maze wall, looking at the names carved into the wall. Thomas points to a name crossed out, then, from her small hut, Leanne sees Thomas point at _her_ name while saying something to Alby. Sighing, Leanne finds herself going to the gardens, already having lost her appetite.

•••

Walking along the edge of the forest, Leanne picks up sticks, listening to Newt and Thomas' conversation. Thomas keeps to give new ideas to get out of the Maze, but everything he's suggested has already been tried.

"And what about the Box? Next time it comes up—" Thomas starts but Newt cuts him off.

"No, we tried that. The Box won't go back down with someone in it." Leanne nods her head in agreement as she walks up to them.

"Okay... What if we—" It's Leanne's turn to cut him off.

"No, we tried it. Alright?" She says harshly, sighing. "Twice. All right?" Leanne puts the sticks in her hands down next to the others she was gathering. "Anything you think of, we've already tried it."

"The only way out is through the Maze." Newt adds. "Now, look, you wanna be helpful? Go dig us up some more fertilizer." Leanne picks up the bucket next to her pile of sticks and passes it to him.

She waits as Thomas walks off into the forest until speaking. "Well he's a handful."

"He just wants to get out. Everyone's like that when they first get here." Newt shakes his head before going back to gardening.

"I guess..." Leanne mumbles, then walks off towards the tree line —where Thomas disappeared— to go get more sticks. She bends down to pick up a large branch on the ground when she hears yelling. Looking out into the forest, then looking back to the boys who haven't heard anything, she takes a few steps into the forest. "Thomas?" She calls out.

Keeping the large branch in one hand, she takes another step but stops shortly when she hears more yelling. Thomas runs out of the forest a couple meters to her right, yelling for help. Leanne frowns, but suddenly everything becomes a little clearer when Ben comes running out of the tree line, chasing Thomas. The yelling attracts the other Gladers' attention, and they start to make their ways over as well. Ben tackles Thomas to the ground, climbing on top of him. "I'll kill you!" He yells. Before Ben can do anything else to Thomas, Leanne lifts the large stick in her hands and swings it. It hits Ben right on the side of his head, sending him crashing off Thomas. The brunette quickly grabs onto Thomas' hands, pulling him up to a standing position as Gally and Newt pin Ben down.

"Calm down Ben." Gally tells him.

"What the hell happened?" Frypan asks.

"He just attacked me." Thomas exclaims, bending over and resting his hands on his knees.

Alby arrives. "No, no, no," Ben mumbles.

"Lift his shirt." Alby says. "Lift his shirt!" He repeats again quickly. Ben continues to protest as the boys lift his shirt, revealing the dark spot with black veins blossoming from it.

"He's been stung." Gally states, looking over at Alby questioningly. "In the middle of the day?"

Everyone's silent for a second before Alby speaks up. "Put him in the pit." He tells them.

Ben continues to protest and struggle as the boys lift him up. "Med-jack!" Newt nods. Leanne goes to follow them but Jeff nods to her, following them instead.

"Calm down," She hears Gally tell him. Ben continues to yell as they pull him away, and the other boys slowly disperse.

Leanne eyes Thomas from head to toe. "Follow me." She says, nodding her head towards the Med-jacks hut. Thomas trails behind her towards the hut, and follows her inside. "Sit." She orders. He sits down on the edge of one of the cots set up in there. She bustled around, grabbing some bandages and tape. She then sits beside him on the edge of the bed, facing him. She hesitantly raises her hands to touch his neck. He flinched slightly but doesn't move back. Pressing down lightly with her fingers, he flinches again. "You'll have a little bruising, but it's nothing major." She brings her hands down just to pick up his left wrist where she'd noticed the crescent nail marks earlier. "And these," The girl says lightly as she wraps the bandage around his arm on top of the injury twice. "Will go away soon, without any scarring." She finishes up, taping it down. "You'll be good as new in no time!" She drops his wrist, letting it fall down into his lap. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Thomas breaths out. "I honestly wasn't expecting that. He kinda startled me."

Leanne sighs softly and nods. "It's what he learnt to do as a Runner; stay quiet and move quickly."

Thomas nods before raising an eyebrow. "Speaking of Runners and everything, what do you—" The boy was cut off by a knocking at the door. They both turn to see Alby standing inside by the door, waiting for Thomas. "Thank you," He calls after her as she gets up to clean the leftover bandages.

"Just doing my job." She smiles, nodding to Alby as he leads Thomas out the door. Grabbing a cloth and a small bowl filled with water, she makes her way across the Glade to the pit. Arriving there, she finds Gally, Newt and Jeff trying to talk some sense into Ben, who's inside the pit.

"You guys can't send me in the Maze! You can't!" Ben pleads. "If you'd seen what I did, you'd understand that he's with them." Ben starts to get angry and grabs onto the bars consisting of the pit.

Leanne pushes around the three boys, surprising them. She kneels in front of the door and dips the cloth in the water before gesturing for Ben to come closer.

"Lee—" Newt starts to warn her, but the girl interrupts him.

"He won't hurt me." She says softly, wiping some of the blood off his cheek and forehead. "I'm sorry about hitting you." She smiles apologetically as she cleans the cut she gave him. Ben seems to calm down a bit, and Leanne takes this chance to ask him more about what he's taking about. "He's with who, Ben?" Ben frowns for a second, not understanding her question. "Thomas, he's with who."

Ben's eyes widen as if he'd forgotten all about that for a second, and his mood changes from calm to angry at the flick of a switch. He grabs onto Leane's overalls and pulls her forwards making her slam into the wooden bars. "You have to listen to me! You have to—"

"Hey! Hey!" Gally yells, jumping towards them.

Newt and Jeff are right behind him, trying to pry Ben'd hands off Leanne's overalls. Ben continues to scream incoherent things. "Ben, let go!" Newt yells, but Ben doesn't do as he's told. Instead, he yanks the girl back towards him, making her hit her head on the wood once again. He starts to shake her, and doesn't stop.

Jeff tries to hit Ben's hands, but it's not working. Gally's attempting to pull her overalls from Ben's grasp, but only manages to stretch out her overalls slightly. Newt tries the same thing as Gally on the other side but ends up with the same problem.

"Hey! Let her go!" A voice commands from behind them. Leanne recognizes the voice as Alby's. She can hear his footsteps getting closer.

Ben's hold on her loosens a little but not enough to get her away from the bars. "Please let go!" She pleads quietly, just loud enough for him and the other boys around her to hear. His grasp on her loosens. With one last tug, Newt's pulling Leanne away from the bars and out of Ben's grasp. She stumbles back slightly, but is caught by Newt's arm being wrapped around her torso. "Thanks." She mumbles.

"Are you okay?" Gally asks, coming up to her and touching her forehead lightly.

"I'll be fine." She nods. "I just need to sit down."

Gally nods in return, then looks over her head. "I have to go... but don't push yourself too hard today, okay?" He begins to walk backwards towards the other builders.

"Okay! Don't worry about me!" She assured him with a final nod.

"Queen of the Glade." Newt mumbles from beside her.

"What do you mean?" She frowns, leaning on him for support and walking towards the Med-jack hut with Jeff by their side. Alby stayed behind to talk to Ben.

"You really don't know?" Jeff teases. "Ben stopped when you told him to." He states.

"So...?" She trails off, not seeing where they're going with this.

Newt sighs before saying. "You have every single one of us wrapped around your finger and you don't even know it."

•••

As the afternoon turned into the evening, Leanne had done nothing but lay in the grass with her eyes closed, listening to the boys bustle around her. However, she now found herself standing with the other boys around the entrance to the Maze, awaiting what she dreaded most. Some of the boys who stand in the front closer to the Maze hold long staffs. She watches as Minho walks across the Glade with Ben. "Just listen to me!" He pleads to Minho as they approach them. "Please, just listen to me!" Minho doesn't respond and keeps bringing Ben closer. "Please, Minho!" Ben pleads with a raspy voice.

Minho keeps bringing him forwards, ignoring his pleads for them to listen. "Alby," Ben says as he passes him. Minho drops him to his knees in the middle of the square the Gladers have formed, and cuts the ropes that tie his hands together. He bends forwards resting some of his weight on his hands and sobbing. Minho walks so he's standing in front of Ben, close to the Maze entrance. "No, please. Please don't." He sobs. "Please, don't do it."

Leanne looks over her shoulder to glance at Chuck and Thomas who stand not far behind her, then looks back to the front just in time to see Minho throw Ben's bag into the Maze. The Maze gears begin to move. "Poles." Alby calls out. The Gladers hold their poles put them out in front of them. Ben stands up. "Move in!" They slowly start herding Ben to the Maze. No one spoke as they did so, dreading their next moves.

Leanne could barely watch as Ben's face morphed from angriness to fear, but she forced herself to. These were the rules of the Glade, and although she didn't support them completely, they kept them all alive. Maybe someday, they would find a cure. But today was not that day.

"No, no, no! Please!" Ben continues to plead with them but no one's listening. "Please don't do it!" Ben tried to push against the poles and continued to beg them to stop. They push him closer and closer to the closing Maze doors.

"Push him in!" Alby commands. Ben is pushed into the Maze, but continues to protest and sob. Leanne gets one last glance of him as the Maze doors close. "He belongs to the Maze now." Alby says, looking around before walking off.

Slowly, the boys starts to leave. Thomas stands there, shocked. Leanne opens her mouth to speak, but closes it when she can't think of anything to say. She purses her lips, then turns towards him. "It's something every single one of us wishes we didn't have to do, but you have to understand, they don't get better." She shakes her head lightly and starts to walk away from him. "Not after getting stung."


	5. Rulebreakers

**_THE TWO GIRLS_ ** _were pulled apart as they were pushed into different vans. Leanne screamed and reached out for the blue-eyed girl, but the man had a tight grip on her. The man sat her down in the van, and Leanne pounded at the window, seeing her twelve year old reflection in the tinted glass. The van drove for about an hour before arriving at a large facility. Without speaking to her, she was pushed into a small grey room with a table, a couple chairs and some food. The door opened and a boy, around her age, walked in. The boy had brown hair, tan skin and chocolate brown eyes. "What is this place?" She asked. The boy sat in the chair across from her. "It's a safe place." He nods, smiling warmly at her. The young girl wasn't having it. "Listen here, buddy." She stood up and rests her hands on the table, leaning over slightly. "I want my sister, and I want to speak to whoever is in charge around here. I don't want to play games—" She was interrupted by the door to the room opening. She looked up and saw a blonde woman, wearing all white, walk into the room. "I'm Ava Paige."_

Leanne sat up, clutching her head. She felt like someone was squeezing it, and the pressure kept getting worse. Grunting, she stood up, but stumbled and fell into the table she has. It made a loud crashing noise. However, the noise went unnoticed by the sleeping boys not too far away. Leaning against the table, she tried to make out the small room in the dark, but was unable. She sunk to the floor, clutching her head even tighter. The pressure was getting worse and worse. A scream escaped her lips as the pain became unbearable.

Thomas was startled awake in his bed, and looked over at Chuck, who had also been woken. "It'll stop in a second. Usually Gally or Newt go to calm her down." Chuck tells him as the other boys groan and roll in their hammocks.

Newt got up and ran over to Leanne's small hut. He frowned, because usually she'd stop screaming after a few seconds. He pushed open the door to find Leanne sitting on the floor, clutching her head while tears ran down her face. She was still screaming, and didn't quiet down when she saw Newt. "Shh, shh, it was just a bad dream." He said to her, stepping into the dark space.

She shook her head slightly and gripped it tighter. "It hurts." She sobbed loudly. "It hurts!" She was screaming again.

Not far away, the other Gladers were rolling out of their hammocks and cots and leaving the Homestead to go see why she was screaming. A crowd had formed outside her tiny hut, and Gally, Alby and Thomas had to push their way to the front. Once they got to the open door, they saw Leanne sitting on the floor with Jeff, Clint and Newt crouched around her. Thomas stood at the front of the group of boys outside as Alby and Gally squeezed inside. Clint got up and made space for them to come closer. The Med-jack came over to Alby. "I don't know what's wrong with her. She just keeps saying that it hurts." Clint tells him as they watched Newt trying to speak to the girl.

Alby crouches down to Leanne's level, then places a hand on her shoulder. "Leanne," He says softly. "I need you to tell me what's wrong, so we can help you."

Leanne held her head loosely, looking up at him. "I...I... I'm not sure." She sobbed. "I feel like someone's—" She stops as the invisible force pushing on her head pushes harder. She gasps, and covers her mouth as more sobs escape. "It really hurts, Alby. Make it stop." She pleads. "Make it stop!" Alby nods to Jeff and Clint, who both help the girl up and exit the hut. They push through the crowd and bring her to the Med-jack hut, making her sit down on a cot. Newt, Alby and Gally find themselves following not far behind.

Leanne calms down a bit, so Gally takes a turn at trying to talk to her. "Lee, I need you to tell us exactly what's wrong. So we can help you, okay?"

Leanne nods slowly. "I— I feel like someone's squeezing my head." She lets out a sob. "There's a big amount of pressure, on my head."

Newt runs his hand over his face, and Clint and Jeff give each other looks. "I don't know what to do." Clint whispers to Newt and Jeff.

"Just get her to go back to sleep." Newt tells them. "I want someone here watching her at all times. If she wakes up, she's not to be left alone." They nod to each other.

Leanne lays down on the cot, and Gally brushes some hair out of her face before sitting on the cot to her right. "I'll stay with her first. You lot can go get some sleep."

•••

Leanne sits up all of a sudden, forgetting where she is. Glancing around the room, she sees the familiar inside of the Med-jack hut, and Thomas sitting on the cot across from her. When she sits up, Thomas comes to her, pushing her back down slightly. "How are you feeling?"

Rubbing her temples, Leanne sighs. "I'm okay." She responds.

Thomas raises an eyebrow. "Truthfully?"

"I feel like I just fell off the top of the Maze wall, which has happened to me before." She chuckles. "Where is everyone?" She pushes herself up, swinging her legs over the edge of the cot.

"Alby and Minho went into the Maze not too long ago. Everyone else is just doing their jobs." Thomas shrugs. A pout forms on Leanne's face. "He said you wouldn't be happy, but you're not allowed to go into the Maze." She glares at him and he raises his hands in surrender. "His words not mine."  
  
Newt and Gally walk into the hut. "You're awake." Newt states.

"Yep! And I'm ready to get to work!" She smiles, standing up quickly and walking to the door where Gally catches her arm.

"Leanne—"

She cuts him off before he can say anything else. "I'm fine! It was just a bad headache." She bounces out of the hut, leaving all three boys unconvinced.

•••

Many boys asked her if she was okay throughout the day. After assuring them all it was nothing more than a bad headache, she'd found a spot in the middle of the Glade to sit and watch the other boys bustling around her. She'd been told by Newt and Gally, and many other boys, _many_ times, that she wasn't to work.

As time went by, the sky became dark, and it started to rain. Instead of getting up and taking shelter as the rain pelted down on her, she leant back, laying in the wet grass and letting the rain soak her overalls and orange shirt. She closes her eyes and sighs in content, but begins to shiver slightly as it rains harder. A hand startles her and she looks up to see Thomas crouching down beside her. "You should probably get out of the rain before you get sick." He says, standing up and sticking out his hand to help her up. She grabs onto his hand and is pulled up, dropping his hand once she's stable. Inhaling deeply and tucking some of her wet hair behind her ear, she walks with him under the shelter where the other boys are.

"They should be back by now." Thomas says, leaning on a tree. "What happens is they don't make it?" He asks.

"They're gonna make it." Newt assures from behind him, leaning on a different tree.

Thomas turns around and steps towards him. "What happens if they don't?"

"They're gonna make it." Newt repeats, less loudly this time. Unconvinced, Thomas turns and leaves his side.

"They'll make it." Leanne says quietly, nodding to Newt before speed walking across the Glade to the Homestead Gally just disappeared into. "Hey," She says as she spots him standing in front of a table.

He turns, then frowns. "You're gonna get sick." He grabs a blanket off the back of a chair and wraps it around her shoulders. They stand there in silence for a second before Gally speaks up. "I know it wasn't a bad headache, Leanne." She opens her mouth to speaks but he keeps going. "We all know that. And we all just want to help. But to do that, you need to be honest with us. You need to be honest with me." Leanne takes a step back, watching him cautiously. "I'm gonna ask you once," He starts slowly. "What really made you feel so much pain?"

She sighs. "I honestly don't know. I have an idea, but I'm not sure."

"You need to be honest!" Gally says, his voice rising a little.

Leanne scoffs. "You're not my boss! I don't have to do as you tell me!" She says, equally as loud. Outside, the raining has stopped, making it much quieter.

"All I want to do is help!" Gally yells.

Leanne steps towards him. "I don't want your help!" She yells back.

"Well I'm not giving you the choice!" Gally steps forwards too. He grips her shoulders. "I just want to make sure you're safe, and okay." He says less loudly.

She takes a couple steps back. "I can take care of myself!" She yells. He opens his mouth but she stops him by raising her hand. "Stop! Listen to what _I'm_ saying!" Newt walks into the hut, having heard yelling. "I don't want your help!" She yells. "You can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves, Gally!" She takes another step back. "You can't want more for someone than they want for themselves!"

"Whats going on in here?" Newt asks.

"This shank doesn't understand when someone doesn't want help!" She yells, glaring at Gally.

"Well, this shank doesn't understand when she needs help!" He yells back. Leanne steps up to him quickly and slaps him hard across the face.

"Leanne, calm down," Newt tells her. He goes to put a hand on her shoulder but she steps back. Hurt flashes across his face, but it returns to normal after a second.

Pushing past them, Leanne runs outside and right into Thomas. "Oof!" She nearly falls over but Thomas catches her by grabbing onto her shoulders.

"Sorry!" He exclaims. Leanne bursts into tears and runs around him, right into the woods where she feels safest. It was the one place where she wouldn't be disrupted.

She passes the crosses with names carved into them, and goes further into the forest as her tears run down her face. The girl stops to sit on a wet log nearby. The sound of twigs snapping startles her, but she looks up to see Thomas there. Without saying anything, he comes to sit beside her.

She knew she could be over emotional, and act out at times. It was one of her many flaws. But sometimes she couldn't control it.

"Have you ever felt like the whole world is up against you?" She asks suddenly. He doesn't answer and she keeps speaking. "Or, like people want to help you, but only for themselves?" She wipes her tear stained cheeks. "I know that's not how it is, but it's how it seems." Leanne sighs. "I have problems, and sometimes I feel like only I can solve them. But other people want to help, and I don't know how to tell them they can't; that I'm already so broken they'll just break themselves trying to fix me. I'm not worth it."

Thomas takes one of her small hands in his own. "I haven't known you long, but I think you're worth it." He sends a small smile her way. "And, from what I've seen, I think anyone would help you even if they knew something bad could happen."

She nods, then stands up, dropping Thomas' hand. "We should get back. The doors are closing soon." He nods and stands up, following her back through the woods.

They emerge to find all the boys crowded in front of the opening in the Maze. They approach the group, and the two pushes their way to the front.

They stand there in silence for a couple minutes before the Maze makes a brief noise. "Come on, guys, can't we send someone after them?" Thomas asks.

"That's against the rules." Gally points out quickly. "They either make it back or they don't."

Leanne clears her throat. "Technically, I'm a Runner. I've been in the Maze before."

Newt shakes his head. "Officially, you're a Med-jack." Leanne runs a hand down her face nervously. "We can't risk loosing anyone else." Newt looks to Thomas, then down at Leanne.

The Maze begins to Maze more noises, and the Gladers can hear the gears move as the doors begin to close. "Oh no." Chuck mumbles.

They look down the opening nervously. "There!" Thomas raises a hand, pointing towards Minho, who Leanne can just make out.

They hear Minho groan. "Wait, something's wrong." Newt says.

"Come on Minho, you can do it!" Chuck yells. Around her, Gladers start to yell encouragingly, telling Minho he can do it.

"Minho, you gotta leave him!" Gally yells.

"Newt—" Leanne , shaking the boy's arm.

"They're not gonna make it." He says. Leanne's heart pounds harder, making it nearly impossible for her to hear the others. Her breathing becomes shallower, and she widens her eyes.

All of a sudden, Thomas springs forwards. She and Newt both try to grab onto him, but they both come up empty handed. "Thomas!" Leanne screams. She watches in fear as the boy runs down the narrowing hallway, and barely sees him drop to the ground just before the Maze closes completely.

_**Fuck**._


	6. Unwanted Memories

**_"ISLA, WAKE UP."_ ** _Someone shook her. She opened her eyes to see the blue eyed girl. "Deedee, what's wrong?" Leanne frowns, but gets up anyway. "We have to go. We're not safe here." The blue eyed girl, Deedee, says. "What do you mean, 'not safe'?" Deedee throws a bag at Leanne, and the blonde catches it. "The cranks, they're here." Leanne gasps, but follows the girl anyway. "We can't just leave her." Deedee turns around to look at her. "Isla," She says harshly. "She's one of them now. She's not gonna get better no matter how hard we try, okay?" Deedee watches her, and waits until Leanne nods. "Good. Let's go."_

Leanne gasps awake, finding herself in her dark hut. She sighs, running a hand through her hair. Now, she has the name of the blue eyed girl: Deedee. But who was Isla? Or was that her?

The wait for the morning was long and painful. Sleeping wasn't an option. Not after her dream. Instead, she found herself walking across the Glade, towards the names on the wall. There were so many up on there. The moonlight was enough for Leanne to see what she was looking at, even though she had already memorized every single name carved into the cement. She runs her hands along the names, stopping when her fingers traced over one name. _Elliott_.

"I'm sorry, Lottie." Leanne whispers softly. "I'm so sorry."

As the sun began to rise, Leanne found herself to be the first one sitting in front of the Maze doors.   
Slowly, other boys came to sit with her. Chuck was standing in front of the Maze when it began to open. "Guys, get up!" He calls to them. Leanne bounces up on her feet and stands in front of the opening.

No one was in sight. "I told you Chuck," Newt says from beside him. "They're not coming back." The boys begin to disperse. Chuck turns around and watches them go, but Leanne doesn't move.

The entire night, she'd hoped they would come back and although she didn't want to lose hope now, they weren't there. Leanne turns to watch the boys leaving, but doesn't move.

"You think they're dead?" Chuck asks innocently behind her, continuing to watch the Maze.

"I don't know, Chu—"

"Wait! Wait!" Chuck yells. Leanne spins on her feet and turns around to face the Maze. At the end of the long hallway, she can just make out three figures. Everyone turns around and comes back quickly. "Yeah! Yeah!" Chuck cheers.

Leanne watches as Thomas and Minho drag Alby towards them. She smiles, exhaling happily that they're all here, but there's still a weight resting on her shoulders. "Set him down."

"I got him, I got him, I got him." Somebody says.

"Watch out. Easy."

She crouched down beside Thomas, looking over Alby. "You saw a Griever?" Chuck asks.

"Yeah, I saw one." Thomas answers out of breath.

Minho shakes his head. "He didn't just see it." He adds. "He killed it."

Everyone quiets down and looks at him, shocked. Leanne looks from Minho, to Thomas, then to Alby. "Okay, let's go." She stands up. "Somebody bring Alby to the Med-jack hut." She commands. Newt and Jeff pick Alby up and begin to carry him away. "Everyone else, go back to whatever you have to do." She turns to look at Minho and Thomas. "Are either of you hurt?" They both shake their heads. "Well then go get some food." She nods, walking away confidently after Newt and Jeff. Minho and Thomas watch, mouths wide as the girl leaves them. The girl who just yesterday, had seemed so shy and guarded.

•••

Some people liked to be in charge, and Gally was one of those people. He thought he was right, and whoever else dared challenge him was up for a fight. "Things are changing." He says to them inside the council, making them all quiet down. "There's no denying that." Leanne shuffles from side to side on the ground where she's sitting before calming down. "First, Ben gets stung in broad daylight," Nothing else is heard in the room. "And then Alby." Leanne watches Gally as he speaks in front of everyone. "And now our Greenie, here, has taken it upon himself to go into the Maze." He looks to the other boys around him. "Which is a clear violation of our rules here."

"Yeah, but he saved Alby's life." Frypan points out from beside Newt.

"Did he?" Gally asks. Leanne rolls her eyes. "For three years we have coexisted with these things. And now, you've killed one of them." He turns and points to Thomas who sits alone in a corner of the room. "Who knows what that could mean for us?"

"What do you suggest we do?" Newt speaks up. To Leanne, there was one key word: _suggest_. With Alby injured and unconscious, Newt was the one in charge, so the only thing Gally could really do was suggest.

"He has to be punished." Gally shrugs. Protest are heard throughout the room. Leanne doesn't protest aloud, but she glares at him. _Punish him?_ He only got here a few days ago, he's just learning.

The boys continue to protest. "Minho," Leanne starts loudly, standing up and earning the attention of the boys. "You were there with him. What do you think?"

Everyone holds their breath and looks to Minho. "I think, in all the time we've been here, no one's ever killed a Griever." Leanne looks at Thomas, who makes eye contact with her before looking back at Minho. "When I turned tail and ran," She raises an eyebrow. "This dumb shank, stood behind to help Alby." Leanne runs a hand through her messy hair and chuckles to herself. "Look, I don't know if he's brave or stupid. But whatever it is, we need more of it." He pauses. "I say we make him a Runner."

"A Runner?" Frypan exclaims. "Minho, let's not jump the gun, here."

Newt's amuses eyes meet Leanne's eyes. She's just as amused as him, and doesn't think the idea is that bad. "Alright, shanks. Let's calm down." Everyone looks to her. "Not all of you are Runners, so Minho's obviously got a better idea than all of you." She walks towards the boys standing in the centre. "And in the end, Newt is the one calling the shots." She spins to face Gally. " _Not_ anyone else." She raises an eyebrow, quietly challenging him.

Gally intervenes. "If you wanna throw the newbie a parade that's fine, go ahead." He says loudly, shifting the attention from the brunette girl to him. "But if there's one thing, that I know about the Maze, it is that you do not—" Everyone's distracted by familiar noises coming from outside.

"What the hell?" Looking at Newt, Leanne is the first to bolt out the door and towards the box. She runs across the Glade with Gally and Newt on her heels and the rest of the boys not far behind. She comes up to the box to see the gears spinning. It stops and the doors on the top open. Leanne comes to a stop, and watches Gally and Newt pull open the grid. She's shocked to see a familiar pale girl with ebony hair lying there, unconscious. Newt jumps down into the box with Leanne right behind him. "Oh my god." She exhales, crouching down beside the girl from her dreams.

"Newt, what do you see?" One of the boys asks.

"It's a girl." Newt looks up at the boys surrounding the box. "I think she's dead."

Leanne grabs her wrist and feels a steady pulse under her fingers. "No, she's alive."

"What's in her hand?" Gally nods towards her.

Leanne looks down at her hand to see a piece of paper curled up in it. Newt grabs onto it and unfolds it. From beside him, Leanne reads the words written down. "She's the last, ever."

"What the hell does that mean?" Newt frowns. Looking up at the other boys wide-eyed, Leanne is startled when the girl in front of her gasps awake. Leanne's body snaps in her direction.

The girl pants, then says one word. " _Thomas_." Then, she passes back out. Everyone looks up at him, but Thomas looks around at them, confused.

"You still think I'm overreacting?" Gally asks, earning an eye roll from Leanne.

The girl is brought to the Med-Jack hut, and Leanne and Jeff are watching over her when Newt, Thomas and Minho enter. "Jeff, what's the matter? Why won't she wake up?" Newt asks.

"Hey, man, I got my job the same way you did." Jeff tells them.

"She's just unconscious." Leanne shrugs. "Wait until later and she'll wake up." She looks over at the three boys, her gaze resting on Thomas.

Everyone turns to him. "Do you recognize her?" Newt asks him.

"No," Thomas shakes his head.

 _"Yes,"_ Leanne wants to tell them. _"I recognize her,"_ But she doesn't work up the courage.

"What about the note?" Thomas tries to change the subject.

"We'll worry about the note later." Newt tells him.

"I think you should worry about it now." Thomas contradicts.

"We've got enough to deal with at the moment."

"He's right, Newt." Jeff says.

"Yeah," Leanne adds. "If the box isn't coming back up, how long do you think we can last?"

Newt glances away then back at them. "No one said that." Leanne raises an eyebrow, challenging him. "Let's not jump to any conclusions. We'll just..." He pauses. "We'll just wait until she wakes up and see what she knows." They all look at the unconscious girl. "Somebody has gotta have some answers around here."

Thomas turns around and starts to walk away. "Okay."

They all watch him, confused. "Where are you going?" Leanne calls after him.

"Back into the Maze." He replies, not stopping. Newt and Minho share a look, then Minho leaves after Thomas.

"Honestly, I question you guys' mental health sometimes." Leanne mumbles. "Most of the time." She adds.

"How's Alby?" Newt asks her, walking towards where Alby is with Leanne right behind him.

"He's not awake yet, and he mumbles. A lot." She sighs. "I can't tell if he's in pain, or if he's dreaming."

"He'll wake up soon." Newt assures her, nodding. "He has to."

"I don't know, Newt." She looks up at him, sadness visible in her eyes. "He used to say it himself, people who get stung don't get better."

Newt wraps his arms around her, hugging her. "He's not always right." Newt sighs.

"But he usually is."


	7. Into The Maze

**WITHOUT EVEN HAVING** to explain why they were going into the Maze, Leanne had agreed to go with them. Minho had sought her out first, knowing she'd take any chance she had to go into the Maze.

So now, she found herself walking alongside Winston, Frypan, Minho and Zart through the woods to the Runners hut she'd never been allowed in. Minho has deemed her too clumsy, saying she'd break anything and everything inside if she came in.

They approach the wooden hut to find Thomas standing outside of it. "Will this be enough?" Minho asks the boy, who's turned to face them.

He stands there for a second before nodding. "Okay. Let's go."

Keeping up with them effortlessly, Leanne jogs alongside the five boys as they cross the Glade.

They follow Minho into the Maze, and Leanne's heart beats in excitement. She hasn't been in the Maze for so long, so she's happy Minho came to her. "Come on!" He says, encouraging them.

Frypan stops running for a second and Leanne grabs his arm, dragging him along as she jogs forwards. "You don't want to get lost, Fry." She tells him, making him run with her without having to be pulled.

They run past an opening on their right, and Minho stops, making them all stop behind him. They turn down the passage, and Leanne sees the metal legs she'd once gotten a glance of so long ago sticking out of a closed wall, stuck in between a gap.

"That's disgusting." Zart says, standing beside Leanne. They look closely at the dead Griever.

"There's something in there." Thomas says, stepping forward.

"You mean besides a Griever pancake?" Frypan asks sarcastically.

They all look at it, not making a move until Leanne walks up to it. "Whoa, what're you doing?" Zart asks quickly.

Leanne turns to look at the five boys, who're watching her like she's crazy. She turns back towards the Griever and and raises her hand. Slowly, she puts her hand into the gap between the walls, and just touches the Griever when it moves its legs forwards. She lets out a short scream, jumping back and being caught by Thomas before she can slip to the ground.

"I thought you said it was dead!" Frypan says accusingly, not taking his eyes off the mechanical monster.

"Was it a reflex?" Zart asks as Leanne pulls herself away from Thomas.

Winston looks at him. "You hope."

They watch it cautiously for a second before Thomas steps towards it. "Okay, come on. Let's try and pull it out." They all step up and grab onto the monster. "Everybody get a hand on it. Alright, on three." Thomas stands at the back, holding onto the bottom of the leg. "One, two, three!" They pull for a couple seconds before it comes out, making them all fall back. Everyone stands up but Frypan, who sits there watching the dead Griever like it could move any second. "Are you okay, Fry?" Thomas asks.

"Yeah," Thomas offers his hand to help him up. "Thanks, brother." He says, partially out of breath.

Minho steps forward and slowly picks up what looks like the heart of the Griever, only it has a metal contraption in it. "I'm a Med-jack, and even I wouldn't touch that." Leanne mumbles, making a face. Minho pulls the metal thing out of the heart, making a trail of slime, and lets the organ fall to the ground. The boys and Leanne groan in disgust.

"What the hell is that?" Thomas questions as Minho turns the metal device in his hand. It makes a slight, constant beeping noise.

"Interesting." Minho says as he runs his fingers over it.

"Okay, whatever it is... can we take this up back at the Glade? Cause I dont wanna meet this guy's friends." Frypan says.

"He's right, it's getting late. Come on." Minho walks around them, and starts jogging with all of them behind him.

The group soon found themselves standing in the council hut, ready to inform Newt and Gally of their discovery. "We found this." Thomas hands Newt the metal device they found. "It was inside a Griever." Leanne grimaces.

Newt looks at the device. "These are the same letters we get in our supplies." He points out, seeing the sticker with the letters on it.

"Yeah, whoever put us here obviously made the Grievers." Leanne watches Thomas speak, then makes eye contact with Gally, who's watching her. From the look in his eyes, she can tell he's going to want to talk to her after. "This is the first real clue, the first anything, you've found in over three years. Right Minho?" Thomas turns to said boy.

"Right." He nods.

"Newt, we gotta go back out there." Thomas pleads. "Who knows where this might lead us."

Gally turns to look at Newt. "You see what he's trying to do, right?" Gally glances over at Leanne before looking back at Newt. "First he breaks our rules, then he tries to convince us to abandon them totally." He gestured around with his hands. "The rules are the only thing that have ever held us together. Why now are we questioning that?" Gally asks.

"He's not the first to break the rules." Leanne steps forwards. "We all know I went into the Maze, without permission."

"Yeah, and you got punished." Gally points out. "So should he." He looks over at Newt. "If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me."

Looking down at the metal device, then up to Thomas, Newt hands it back to Minho. "You're right. Thomas broke the rules." Gally nods in agreement. "One night in the pit, and no food."

"Oh, come on, Newt!" Gally protests. "One night in the pit?! You think that's going to stop him from going into the Maze?" Gally raises his voice a little, making it clearer for them to hear his annoyance.

"No." Newt says simply. "And we can't just have non-Runners running into the Maze whenever they feel like it." Gally looks between Newt and Thomas. "So let's just make this official. Staring tomorrow, you're a Runner." Thomas stands there shocked, and Minho nods.

Gally shakes his head. "Wow," He says as he nears the door.

"Gally.." Frypan puts his hand on Gally's shoulder but Gally pushes it off.

"No, Fry." He says. "Next thing you know, Leanne will be a Runner." He mumbles, loud enough for them to hear. He opens the door and leaves with it open.

Wide-eyed, the boys all turn to look at Leanne, knowing she's ready to give him a piece of her mind. "That shank." She spits, speeding towards the door.

"Leanne—" Frypan follows her to the door, and she stops, turning to face him.

"You're only coming to make sure I don't kill him, understood?" She asks. Frypan gulps, then nods. She twists on her heels and walks out the door with Frypan not far behind. She sees Gally walking across the Glade, and heads in his direction. "Gally!" She calls after him angrily. He turns around and rolls his eyes. "You're not in charge! Understood?" Gally doesn't answer and she keeps going. "When Alby's injured, and Newt is in charge, you can voice your opinion, but it doesn't mean Newt has to listen to everything you say!" She groans, frustrated. "You never specified what Thomas' punishment should be, so technically Newt actually did what you said." Frypan stands not far behind, just close enough to stop her if she attacks him, which the cook wouldn't be surprised about if it did happen. "So stop acting like a pissy baby when you don't get your way!"

Gally rolls his eyes. "I'll stop acting like a baby when you stop treating me like one!" He takes a step forward. "You're always scolding me when you don't agree with what I've said, or done! It's _my_ opinion, not yours." He glares at her. "So cut it out."

"It's not like you can make me stop." Leanne responds, taking another step forward. She's challenging him with her eyes. _Daring_ him to try something.

"Okay, guys, let's calm down." Frypan calls out, trying to get the two's attention.

Gally scoffs. "Don't bother trying, Fry. She doesn't listen to anyone else." That pushes Leanne over the edge, and she lunges at him. Even if she's smaller than him, she still manages to knock him off balance and tackle him to the ground.

"Leanne!" Frypan screeches. She throws a punch at Gally's jaw and hits its target. He grunts, then pushes her off. They both stand up and she lunges at him again. This time, she manages to scratch his cheek with her long nails.

"Hey!" Boys start to come over and see Leanne going at Gally, but none of them try to stop her. They don't want any elbows to the face. Frypan's given up after almost getting elbowed in the gut, and no one's else wants to give it a try. Gally doesn't want to hurt Leanne, so all he can do is try to keep her away. Newt, Minho and Thomas push the crowd aside, coming to the front just in time to see the brunette clock Gally in the cheekbone. Some of the boys grimace, making "ooh" noises. Minho and Thomas each grab onto one of her arms and pulls her backwards, away from Gally. She continues to squirm but can't get out of their hold.

"Gally, go to the Med-jack hut." Newt says, looking over his wounds. "Leanne," Newt pauses and no one says a word, waiting for him to speak up again. "You're joining Thomas for a night in the pit." Leanne rolls her eyes and shakes out of Thomas and Minho's grasp.

"Whatever." She mumbles. "I'm going to check on the girl. He better not come near me." Jeff follows her to the Med-jack hut, and they pass where Gally sits. "You can take care of him." She says to Jeff, making a face of disgust. He nods, and makes sure to bandage Gally up quickly as Leanne sits beside Alby, checking his wound. It's not looking too bad.

Newt comes in to see her. "You should clean your knuckles." He says to her as she bustles around the small area, avoiding his eyes.

She glances down at her knuckles, finding them bloody and bruised. "I guess I should." She shrugs, grabbing some alcohol and bandages, cleaning and wrapping them quickly, adding a little tape to keep it in place. "Have you come to lecture me?" She asks, glancing over at Gally, who gets up and walks out the door. Newt shakes his head, then goes off in the same direction as Gally. Leanne goes over to the girl.

"Deedee." She says to herself. "When you wake up, we need to have a talk." Leanne cleans up the leftover bandages Jeff left after cleaning up Gally, and walks outside to put them in the small bag they have by the door. Breathing in, Leanne finally relaxes. She watches as the Gladers bustle around the Glade, going about their business. She walks towards the treeline, keeping her eyes down as she passes Thomas and Minho's path. Twigs snap as she walks through the forest, letting the leafs brush against her cheeks. It was soothing, and simply walking through the forest changed her mood. After a couple more minutes of walking, she decides to head back.

Now walking across the Glade, she couldn't see many boys around. There were only a couple in sight, and those few were running all in one direction. Frowning, she walks back towards the Med-Jack hut. When she comes back in, she sees the bed where the blue-eyed girl laid, empty. "Shit!" She curses. Running out the back door and following the yelling, she finds the girl climbing up the tower with boys standing at the bottom, telling her she's okay. Leanne groans when the ebony haired girl begins to throw rocks down at them. They all yell at her to stop, but she doesn't. After the fifth rock, Leanne opens her mouth to shout the girls name, but instead another name comes out. "Teresa!"


	8. Saving Alby

**"TERESA!" SHE YELLS**. All the boys stop abruptly, and the rocks stop coming. Leanne stops herself for a moment. Teresa? Where did that name come from? And why did it sound just as familiar as Deedee?

"Yes?" She peaks her head over the edge.

"I'm Leanne, I was the only girl before you came." For a second, Leanne's voice gets stuck in her throat. However she pushes through it, continuing. "Can I come up?"

Everyone's quiet for a second until she answers. "Yes." If everyone hadn't quieted down, they would not have heard the quiet answer.

Leanne pushes past the confused boys and climbs up to the top of the tower, coming up to find Teresa holding a knife up at her. "Woah! Look," Leanne raises her hands in surrender. "I'm unarmed. Plus, why would I hurt the only girl who's come to save me from a world filled with boys?" Leanne chuckles, and Teresa nods, putting down the knife.

"How do you know my name?" Teresa asks.

"I'm not really sure. I just know it's complicated." Leanne shrugs. The boys begin to call up at them again, but Leanne peaks her head over the edge to yell at them. "Leave us alone, shanks!" She glares down at them. "We're bonding." She leans back to look at Teresa. "I have to go get some people, but you can come down or stay here, okay?"

"I'll stay here." Teresa says as Leanne begins to climb down.

"Okay." She comes down to see the boys waiting for an explanation. However, she did not want to give it to them, and so she wouldn't. Not now, at least. " _Don't_ go up. I'll be back."

Leanne runs across the Maze and to the Runner's hut where she knows Minho and Thomas are. Running up to the door, Minho looks over hearing footsteps. "You're not allowed in here." He states quickly.

Leanne rolls her eyes. "I know, I know, clumsy me." She says before snapping back to seriousness. "The girl's awake." Their eyes widen and Leanne runs off with the two boys on her heels.

They run up to Chuck, who's standing in the middle of the Glade, facing the tower laughing. "Girls are awesome!" He laughs, pointing over at the tower.

Leanne scoffs. "I told them to leave her alone!" Marching over to the group of boys, Leanne covered her head with her arms. "Hey! It's Leanne!" She yells up to the girl atop the tower.

The rocks stop coming for a second before they start coming again. "Leave me alone! I don't care who you are!" She yells down at them.

"I thought we were friends! We bonded, we're the only girls!" Leanne moves to the left to dodge a rock. "Come on!"

"Hey! Throw one more of those things I'm—" Gally's cut off when a rock comes flying down and hits him in the head.

Leanne has to bend over because she's laughing so hard, and eventually calms down enough to see Thomas stepping up. "What happened?"

"These idiots didn't listen to me! I had her calm, she even let me up there!" Leanne rolls her eyes, but covers her head when more rocks come sailing through the air.

"I don't think she likes us very much." Newt says from under a plank of wood Winston is holding up.

"What do you want from me?" She yells.

"Hey, look! We just wanna talk!" Thomas yells up to her.

The rocks start coming even faster, and Leanne can't help but think: why were there so many rocks just sitting around up there? "Take cover, y'all!" Frypan yells, running to the other side of the group.

Leanne grabs onto Thomas and pulls him back just in time because a rock falls right where he stood a second ago. Mouthing a quick thanks, he speaks up. "Hey, it's Thomas! It's Thomas!" The rocks stop coming and Teresa peaks her head over the edge, looking down at them. "I'm gonna come up, okay?" He asks. She disappears from their sight. "Okay," He exhales. "Just me." He says to them. He makes his way to the tower and begins to climb. "I'm coming up." He calls up to Teresa.

When he disappears from their sight, Minho turns to Leanne. "So, you're not the only girl."

"I guess not."

Newt and Gally turn to face her. Newt has his lanky arms crossed over his chest. "You know her?" He asks.

Leanne shrugs. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Gally raises an eyebrow. "You knew her name."

The boys stand in front of Leanne, demanding an answer. "It was just a lucky guess." She says innocently.

Minho frowns. "You know her name?"

"Teresa." She says.

The boys around her shift uncomfortably, and Frypan is the first to speak up. "Girl, you creep me out." He shakes his head. "I swear you're telepathic."

Newt's about to question her further but Gally cuts him off. "What's going on up there?" He yells up.

Thomas peaks his head over the edge of the building and looks down at the thinning crowd.

"Is she coming down?" Newt asks.

Thomas looks over his shoulder, then back down at them. "Hey, listen, you guys just give us a second, okay?"

Gally huffs out in annoyance. Newt turns and looks at the group. "Alright." He waves to them, gesturing for them to leave. "Come on."

"Is this what all girls are like?" Frypan asks, earning a hard elbow in the stomach from Leanne. "You're an exception." He grunts.

"That girl is crazy." One of the boys mumbles.

"Okay, cut it out!" Leanne sighs exasperatingly. "You're categorizing all women and it's pointless." She shakes her head. "We're all different."

"You don't even remember what other women are like." Another boys says.

She smirks. "That's what you think." Spinning on her bare heels, Leanne marches off, leaving the boys _very_ confused.

•••

_The Maze walls stood tall around them. This time, she didn't dream of life outside the Maze. She didn't relive memories she couldn't remember. No. This time, she was dreaming of something that haunted her even when she was awake._

_Elliott stood a little shorter than Leanne, but held just as much authority and confidence; even despite her later arrival._

_The two teenagers awaited the arrival of the other boys in silence. There wasn't much that needed to be said between the two - they knew the risks they were taken. The silence was thick with anxiety. If asked, neither girl would admit that they were scared, but of course they both were._

_Leanne remembered the moment clear as day. Not long after a handful of boys from the Glade arrived, they headed into the Maze. Elliott may have been the Greenie, but she was pushing them to extents they hadn't yet pushed themselves to in the two years they had been trapped in the Maze._

_This was their fourth attempt at escaping. A week earlier, they had tried climbing the ivy of the walls. That plan didn't work out as well as they had hoped, so they now found themselves running through the Maze._

_As they run through the cement halls, Elliott glances over as Leanne to smile at her reassuringly. Little did Leanne know, this would be the last time she saw Lottie's gorgeous smile—_

Snapping her thoughts away from the dream she had the previous night, the brunette moves a cloth on the side table onto a different table, then stands beside Alby, who's laying down. "We don't even know what this stuff is." Newt holds the vial in his hands. "We don't know who sent it, or why it came up with you," Leanne runs her hands through her hair nervously as Newt speaks. "For all we know, this thing could kill him." She takes the vial from him and looks at it, shaking her head.

On the bed beside her, Alby pants in his sleep, struggling to breath. "He's already dying." Thomas protests. "Look at him," They all look towards him. "How could this possibly make it any worse?" Leane shuts her eyes, trying to block out the noise of Alby suffering. "Come on, it's worth a try."

Leanne opens her eyes and sighs. "We all know this is a sensitive subject," Everyone watches her expectantly. She shrugs. "I say we do it."

They stand there, listening to Alby's groans. "All right." Newt gives in. "Do it."

Thomas brushes past Newt, taking the vial from Leanne who stands on Alby's other side. "Okay," He hunches over, and holds the vial over Alby's chest. Leanne holds her breath, not knowing what to expect.

Alby's eyes open, and he grabs onto Thomas, pulling him down and startling everyone. "You shouldn't be here!" Newt jumps over to try and help Thomas. "You shouldn't be here!" He shakes him and keeps a tight grip on him. Jeff and Newt try to pry Thomas out of his grip.

"Get the syringe!" Teresa picks the syringe up from where Thomas let go of it on the bed, and quickly plunges it into Alby's lower stomach. Alby calms down immediately, becoming unconscious once again.

"Well, that worked." Jeff says slowly as everyone keeps their eyes on Alby.

"Okay from now on," Everyone turns to look at Newt. "Someone stays here and watches him around the clock."

"Hey," Everyone turns to see Gally standing there. "Sundown Greenie, Lea. Time to go."

Leanne looks at Thomas, then nods. "I'll be there in a second."

Thomas leaves the hut, and Leane turns to Newt. "He's really getting on my nerves." She exhales.

"Gally just follows the rules." Newt fires back, shaking his head.

She snorts. "Yeah, religiously." She shakes her head, and walks to the door. "I have to go to the pit."

She walks outside in the dark, using the light from Gally's torch as a way to know she's going in the right direction. Stumbling a little in the dark, she finally approaches the pit.

She sees Thomas climb in, and Gally holding the trap door open. She sighs, and Gally looks up at her, finally letting her get a good look at the scratch marks she gave him earlier. She nods as she walks past him and into the pit. He closes the trap door behind her, and Thomas comes up and rests his hands on it, leaning forwards as Gally crouches down to tie the door shut so they can't get out. "Gally," Thomas speaks up. Gally looks down at him. "You know we can't stay here forever, right?" They both don't say anything, then Gally gets up, walking away with their only light source.

They sit there in silence for a second, but then they hear crunching noises. "Who's there?" Thomas asks.

"It's just me." The voice, belonging to Chuck, says, getting closer. His light illuminates the area, letting them get a look at the boy.

"Sorry, Chuck." Thomas gets closer to the bars and Chuck.

"Here," He bends over. "You'll run better on a full stomach." Chuck passes a bottle and food wrapped in a cloth down to Thomas in the pit.

Thomas sits down, and Leanne sits beside him. He unwraps the fabric and gestures for Leanne to take some. She grabs a piece of bread, taking a bite from it as Thomas scarfs his food quickly. "Thanks, Chuck." Thomas nods. Leanne moves to go sit in the back of the pit, letting them have their conversation. From the back, she can see Chuck looking at something in his hand. "Hey, what do you got there?" Moving to show Thomas the carved wood, Leanne can just see it in the dim light. "Wow, that's came out pretty damn good." Thomas tells him. "What's that for?" He asks.

"It's for my parents." Chuck informs him.

Leanne stiffens, bringing her knees to her chest. "You remember your parents?" She asks softly.

He shakes his head. "No," He plays with the carved piece in between his fingers. "I mean, I know I must've had them." He pauses. "And wherever they are, I'm sure they must miss me... but I can't miss them because I don't remember them." They all stay quiet, and Chuck looks over his shoulder to the closed Maze doors. "What do you think you're gonna find out there tomorrow?"

"I don't know." Thomas answers quietly. "But if there's a way out, Chuck, me and Minho are gonna find it." He nods his head.

Chuck looks away, then back at him. "Here," He reaches out to hand Thomas the wood relic.

The older boy grabs it, looking down at it then back up at the younger boy. "Chuck, why would you give this to me?" He asks.

"Can't remember them anyway," He answers honestly. "But maybe if you find a way out, you can give it to them for me." He stops, then begins to get up. "I'll let you get some sleep."

He grabs the lamp and begins to walk away. "Hey Chuck," Thomas calls out, getting the boy to stop walking. "Come here." The young boy comes back, and crouches down in front of the pit. "Put our your hand." Chuck does as he says, and Thomas puts the relic in his hand. "I want you to give that to them yourself." He nods. "We're gonna get out of here. All of us." He tells the boy. "Okay? I promise."

"Yeah," Chuck answers quietly.

"Okay."

"Goodnight." Chuck gets up and begins to walk off.

"Goodnight, buddy."

"You're good with him." Leanne says quietly from behind him. He spins around, squinting to be able to see her in the dark. "He's had it rough, being the youngest. Some of the other boys like to pick on him." She sighs. "I guess that was mostly Ben, so it's not a problem anymore."

Leanne shifts on the floor, moving her feet so Thomas can sit beside her. "Have you had to do that to other people before?" He asks curiously, referring to what they did to Ben.

"If it keeps the rest of us safe, yes." She shakes her head. "It's not something any of us want to do, but people don't get better after being stung."

"So it's happened before?"

"Think of it, Thomas," She turns to face him. "When we first arrived, we didn't know anything. We didn't arrive with a handbook, telling us everything about the Maze. Everything we've told you, we had to find out somehow." Shifting slightly, she stretches out her legs. "I'm your age, Thomas. I arrived three years ago. Do the math."

"You were thirteen when you first arrived." He states. "And you've been in the Maze before earlier today?"

Leanne chuckles. "I'm quite the rule breaker, Thomas." She shakes her head. "When I was fourteen, I was curious. So, I ran in, and spent the day running around." She brings her legs up to sit cross-legged, shifting so her body's facing him. "I'll admit, it was very fun... but I did get in trouble, and learnt my lesson." She sighs. "Thomas, I know you already know this..." She shifts her gaze from her hands in her lap to his eyes. "But the Maze is a dangerous place," He nods, half-minded. Leanne shifts onto her knees and grabs his shoulders, shaking them lightly. "I'm being serious, Thomas. I don't want to do to you what we had to do to Ben." She looks him right in the eyes. "Nobody wants that for anyone, no matter how much they might dislike them." This time, Thomas nods more seriously. "So be careful out there." Letting go of his shoulders, she turns and stretches out her legs, sitting beside him and facing the bars keeping them in.

They sit in silence for a couple minutes. "So," He breaks the silence. "What was it like being the only girl?"

"Here? Not as bad as it seems, I guess." She shrugs, looking down at her feet stretched out in front of her. "In the beginning, most of the guys thought I was useless, honestly." She chuckles. "I proved them wrong, and every time a new boy arrived, I proved them wrong too."

"Yeah,"

"Everything just happens so quickly here." Leanne states randomly. "I wanna slow down and smell the roses." A small smile appears on her face. "My mother used to say that."

"Do you remember what roses smell like, Leanne?"

"No, you?"

"No."

Leanne smiles. "You know, there was this one time we were trying to climb the ivy to get onto the Maze walls." She laughs. "All the boys were trying, and they kept trying to get me to try to, but I'm afraid of heights, so I kept saying no." She shakes her head. "They were teasing me, calling me chicken, and honestly looking back on it the whole thing is hilarious." Her smile enlarges, making Thomas smile. "They were like «ah, come on Lea, don't be a chicken» and I was like «jeez, fine» so they were all like «yeah!» and I was like «ahhh!»" Leanne waves her hands around dramatically. "And I fell." She some hair away from her hairline, showing Thomas a scar about two inches long. "I got this gash from the fall."

"Ouch." He winces.

"Yeah..." Sighing, she shrinks more against the wall, trying to relax. "Goodnight, Thomas." She whispers, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Leanne."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ajiona Alexus as Elliott


	9. Night of Terrors

**_RUNNING AS FAST_ ** _as her feet can carry her, Leanne pushes open a pair of doors, running right into a boy, around the age of thirteen, with chocolate brown eyes and brown hair. "Thomas," She exhales in relief. "I'm so sorry," She speaks quickly, grabbing onto his shoulders. "It's not my fault, you have to believe me." She pants, and hears footsteps from behind her. She grabs onto Thomas' arm, pulling him down the hallway and into a small empty office. "I don't have much time, but you have to listen." He looks at her, confused. "I'm sorry I can't explain everything, but they're bad people, Thomas. You can't trust them." The sound of people rushing around gets closer. "You have to believe me. I'm sorry, I really am." The door burst open, revealing two men wearing all black. "Tell Teresa I'm sorry too, okay?" The boy manages to nod before he's pulled away from the girl. She's swept off her feet, and dragged away. "Leanne, I thought you'd learnt your lesson." A woman in all white —the same from her other dreams— approaches her. "I guess not." She says, disappointed. Leanne elbows the man holding her in the stomach, then proceeds to knee him in the groin before running down the hallway. "You can't get away, Leanne!" The woman yells._

"Aww, look at you two, cuddling." Leanne's woken from her dream by Minho, who seems to be teasing the two.

Thomas lifts his head from her own, letting Leanne lift her head from his shoulder. "Whatever, Minho."

"Big day, Greenie. Are you sure you don't wanna sit this one out?" Minho asks him jokingly.

Thomas scoffs. "Come on, man. Get me out of here." Thomas scoots forward, towards Minho.

"All right ." Minho opens the trap door, and Thomas gets out, turning back around to offer Leanne a hand. She grabs onto it and he pulls her to a standing position. "Lea—"

She interrupts him. "I know, I know." She rolls her eyes. "You're gonna say I'm not aloud to come with you."

Sending her an apologetic smile, Minho and Thomas begin their walk towards the Maze. Minho hands Thomas his pack. "Hey, just out of curiosity," Thomas begins. "I've heard some things about her, around the Glade. Are they true?"

"That depends which rumours you're talking about." Minho replies. Thomas raises an eyebrow in his direction. "Some say, she remembers."

Frowning, Thomas asks. "Remembers what?"

"All of it."

•••

No matter how hard Leanne tried to make sense of her dreams, she couldn't. They came in foggy, and by the time she woke up most of the faces were blurry. It didn't help that they didn't come to her in order. One second she would be with the woman dressed in white and the next she would be back in what seemed to be her home, trying to drown out the screaming of the beautiful woman Leanne had concluded was her mother.

"Hey," Leanne approaches Newt, who's sitting on a log, eating.

"Good morning." Newt says cheerfully. "You hungry?" He asks, gesturing to his food.

She rubs her head. "No, no." Sitting beside Newt, she turns to face him. "Newt, do you get weird dreams?" He shakes his head, frowning. "Not even with someone you know in them?"

Newt shakes his head again. "Are you okay? You seem out of it." She waves him off

"I'm fine," Leanne reassures him. "I'm fine."

He raises an eyebrow. "Are you certain?"

"I just have a small headache." She tells him. Leanne stands up, but as she does so she nearly falls backwards. Newt catches her before she can fall to the ground, and sits her back down. "I just stood up too fast." She puts a hand to her head, wincing.

"Come on, let's try that again." He helps her up, wrapping an arm around her waist. She wraps one of her arms around his shoulders, and he walks her towards the Med-jack hut.

"No, no, I just need some sleep." She tries to get him to change directions, but he keeps going.

"You can get some rest in the Med-jack hut." He tells her. Walking into the hut, he sits her down on the cot next to Alby, and Teresa comes over to see them.

"What's wrong?" She frowns, looking to Newt for answers.

"I think she just needs food, and some rest."

Teresa nods, walking out of the hut to go find some food. Newt sits on the edge of Leanne's cot. "How bad does your head hurt? Compared to last time?"

Leanne opens her closed eyes. "Not as bad."

"Do you know why it hurts like this?" He questions her.

The brunette scoffs. "I have some ideas," Newt waits expectantly for her to continue. "I'm not telling you right not." She says, quieting down when Teresa bounces back in with a package of food. Newt gets up and leaves, and Teresa sits down on a chair in the corner across the room. "Thank you for the food." Leanne says quietly.

"No problem." The blue-eyed girl nods. Leanne finishes her food in silence, then lays down on her cot.

"Teresa," The girl looks up from her hands in her lap. "Do you remember anything from before?" She asks her.

"I'm not sure. There are some things, that I think are memories, but it's still all hazy." She says quickly. "Why do you ask?"

Leanne shifts on the cot. "Just out of curiosity."

"I'll let you rest."

The tired girl nods. Slowly, she closes her eyes, letting her mind drift off.

•••

"Leanne! Wake up!" She shoots up, startled by Teresa saying her name loudly.

"Yes?" Snapping her head towards the direction in which she heard her, she sees Alby, sitting there, awake. "Alby!" She exclaims.

"I'm gonna go get the guys." Teresa says, leaving the hut.

"How are you—" Leanne's interrupted by Alby.

"I remember." He tells her, silencing her. "I remember it all."

Leanne sits in silence for a second. "I do too." His head snaps up quickly. She shifts in her bed so she's sitting on the edge, facing him. "I think it's from hitting my head, when I first arrived." She tells him. "When Minho tackled me and I hit my head." She clears up.

Nodding, Alby frowns. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She comes to sit on his cot beside him. "Alby, if I had told you Thomas felt familiar to me when he first arrived, or that I thought we were actually safer in the Maze then out there," She pauses. "You would've thought I'm crazy." They sit there in silence, before Leanne turns to face him completely. "You and I both know how bad the world is out there. You and I both know that the world out there, it isn't safe. We can't leave, we're safer—" She stops her pleading when Teresa walks in, followed by Minho, Newt, Thomas, Gally and Frypan.

"Has he said anything?" Minho asks as they all crowd around the room.

Leanne moves to sit on her cot across from Alby. "No." She lies. "He hasn't."

"Alby," Newt approaches him. "Alby are you alright?" Alby doesn't answer.

Thomas decides to give it a try, crouching down beside Newt. "Hey, Alby." Alby stays quiet. "Alby, we might've just found a way out of the Maze." Leanne stiffens, but doesn't move from her spot across from Alby. "Do you hear me? We could be getting out of here."

"We can't." Alby finally says. "We can't leave. They won't let us."

Thomas' eyes flicker from Alby to Leanne, then back to Alby. "What are you talking about?" He asks.

"I remember." Alby says. Those two words earn lots of reactions around the room. People share glances, while others' gazes land on Leanne. Of course, everybody in the Glade had heard the rumour, that she might remember. It was one of the first things every boy was told in the Glade, along with staying on her good side.

"What do you remember?" Thomas asks him.

Alby turns his head towards Thomas. "You." He tells him. "You were always their favourite, Thomas." Everyone glances at Thomas. "Always." Alby adds. Commotion is heard outside. "Why did you do this? Why did you come here?"

The people outside get louder and louder. Thomas stands from his crouching position, and runs outside, followed by the rest of them —excluding Alby—. Winston runs up beside Thomas. "Hey, Winston, what's going on?"

"It's the doors. They aren't closing." Winston tells him quickly. The group runs across the Glade to the open Maze doors. Everyone stands in front of the opening, all waiting. Leanne stands next to Minho and Gally, glancing over at the two every couple seconds, trying to read their expressions. Suddenly, there's a loud noise, making all of them cover their ears quickly. Taking her hands off her ears, Leanne and the rest of the Gladers around her turn when another noise comes from behind them. Across the Glade, birds fly away as the other doors open. Their heads all snap to their right when more sounds come from over there. The doors on that side begin to open as well. Finally, the fourth set of doors on their left begin to open.

Thomas turns to face Chuck. "Chuck, go to the Council Hall, and start barricading the doors."

"Winston, you go with him." Newt tells the slicer.

"Got it." He replies, leaving with Chuck.

Gally turns to face the other Gladers behind Leanne. "Get the others. Tell them to go to the forest. Go hide, now!"

Thomas turns to Minho. "Minho, I want you to grab every weapon you can find." Minho nods. "I'll meet you at Council."

"Let's go!" Minho and Newt run off.

Thomas turns to look at Leane. "Leanne-"

"I'm gonna go see if anyone else needs help." She says.

Thomas nods. "Teresa, you and I are gonna go get Alby. All right?" They're about to leave, when Gladers begin to run out of the forest, screaming. They all stop, and turn to face the opening in the Maze before them, where the noise of Grievers are heard. "All right, everybody hide!" Thomas yells.

Turning, Leanne runs alongside Zart, with Thomas and Tersa right behind her. The run into the corn field. "Stay down!" Thomas tells them. They all crouch down, with Leanne, Teresa and Thomas in a small circle with a couple other Gladers, and Zart off to their side. She tries to calm her breathing, so she isn't too loud, but it doesn't matter. A loud noise followed by screaming is heard not far away, then all of a sudden a Griever latches onto Zart, picking him up. "Zart!" They all get up and try to lunge towards him, but it's too late.

Everyone gets up and turns, beginning to run. Leanne panics, and attempts to keep up with the group but she trips on a rock, and falls to the ground, resulting in her cutting her hands and groaning. The rest of the group continues running, unaware of her falling. She gets up, and begins to run after the group, when a metal claw thrusts out in front of her. Gasping, she spins and begins running in the other direction, towards the forest. She can hear the Griever not far behind her, and runs right into the thick bushes that line the forest. Twigs cut her cheeks and arms as she runs through the forest. The Griever slows a little, and Leanne takes this chance to hide in a thick bush. As the faint sounds of screaming slowly die down, Leanne tries to slow her breathing. Quietness overtakes the Glade, not a single thing can be heard.

Suddenly, Leanne is very aware of the cold metal pressed up against her back. The Griever is still unaware it's her, but doesn't move. She slowly tries to move away, but an overall is hooked on a twig. Pulling harshly, the overall comes off of the twig, but snaps of at the same time. The Griever's stinger is out, the metal making small noises as it moves. A blood cutting scream is heard throughout the Glade —Leanne's blood curdling scream— and like a chain effect, everyone else starts screaming. She quickly stands up, running out of the bush and towards the lights she can see through the trees. Running faster, she can hear the Griever crash into a tree behind her. The lights get closer and closer, but as does the Griever. Suddenly, Jack, a builder, jumps out from behind a log. Leanne stops in surprise. "What're you doing? Run!" He yells at her. They both begin to run towards the Glade, but Leanne's overall gets caught on another branch, stopping her from running and making her fall to the ground. Jack comes back quickly, helping her up. "Let's go." He says. Before they can start running again, a metal claw comes, and latches onto Jack from behind. Leanne screams again as he is yanked from beside her, and she's pulled back by her hand still latched onto his hand. Falling back, her ankle twists, and she hears a loud cracking noise. She lets out a cry of pain, but gets back up and starts off towards the approaching lights, not stopping once she's passed the tree line. She limps over pieces of wood and rocks, keeping her eyes on the group of people across the Glade. Smoke fills her lungs as she runs past a fire, but she doesn't stop. She coughs as she tries to gain speed. "Is everyone here?" Newt asks.

As she gets closer, she sees Gally walking towards the group. "Where's Leanne?" She hears Gally ask, panic clear in his voice.

"I'm here!" She yells. They all turn to face her, relief filling their eyes. The girl jumps into Gally's open arms, and he lifts her off the ground, hugging her tightly.

He sets her back on the ground, and hides his face in her hair. "I thought a Griever had—" He stops himself, exhaling a shaky breath.

"It almost did." She whispers, tightening her arms around his neck. "Jack saved me." She chokes out, tears filling her eyes.

"Jack?" Gally pulls his face out of her hair, but keeps his arms around her waist. "Where is he now?"

Leanne's gaze falls to the ground. "I'm sorry, Gally. I know you were friends." Visible pain fills Gally's eyes. "He saved me." She tells him. "He didn't have to, but he did." She nods.

Gally pulls away from Leanne, and turns angrily to Thomas. He walks up quickly. "Gally—" Thomas begins but is stopped shortly when Gally punches him across the face.

"Woah!"

The boys grab onto Gally and pull him back as he struggles against them. "This is all you, Thomas!" He yells, "Look around!

"Back off, Gally! It's not Thomas' fault!" Leanne says loudly to him over the other noises.

"You heard what Alby said!" Gally's quick to protest. "He's one of them!"

"One of who?" One of the guys asks.

"He's one of them, and they sent him here to destroy everything, and now he has!" Gally continues to struggle against the boys, trying to get to Thomas. "Look around, Thomas! Look around! This is your fault!"

"Back off, Gally!" Newt yells, standing in front of Gally and the other boys, blocking him from

"This is not Thomas' fault!" Leanne goes to step forward but is shoved back by Winston by accident as he tries to stop Gally. She stumbles back but is able to stable herself.

"What are you talking about?" Frypan asks him.

"Calm down."

"They sent him here, and now he's destroyed everything that we've built!" As Gally yells this, Leanne turns around to see Thomas grabbing the Griever stinger from Chuck's hand. He looks down at it, contemplating his choices.

"Thomas," Leanne calls out, trying to get his attention.

He doesn't look up from the metal device in his hand, and instead says. "He's right." He looks up at Leanne, then over to Teresa. "I need to remember, Teresa."

Suddenly, Thomas brings the metal contraption down, stabbing himself in the thigh with the Griever's stinger.

Leanne's eyes widen. "Thomas!" She lunges towards him, dropping to her knees beside him and rolling him onto his back. "Someone get the other syringe!"


	10. Splitting Fates

**THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT** , Leanne has not been able to sleep. Mainly out of fear that the Griever's would return, but also because of the pain in her ankle.

Now, she sat outside the pit between Minho and Newt, having finished giving Thomas the serum earlier in the night. "What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck demands as Thomas sits up quickly, turning to face them.

"What happened?" He asks them, confused.

"Gally's taken control." Newt tells him. "Said we had a choice: either join him... or get banished at sundown with you."

Thomas sits up. "And the others agreed to that?"

"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened." Teresa says.

"Well," Thomas says as they all watch him expectantly. "He's been right so far."

"What are you talking about?" Minho asks.

"This place... its not what we thought it was." Thomas confesses. "It's not a prison..."

"It's a test." Leanne finishes for him. Everyone turn their heads to look at the girl, confused. "It all started when we were kids. They would give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us." Leanne clasps her hands in her lap.

Thomas nods, keeping eye contact with her. "And then people started disappearing." It's Leanne's turn to nod, remembering vividly how people would disappear randomly. "Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

Next connects the dots. "To send them up into the Maze."

"Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?" Newt asks.

"Guys, I'm one of them." Thomas tells them. "The people who put you here, I worked with them." Chuck looks over at Leanne, confused. She simply nods, confirming what Thomas is telling them. "I watched you guys for years." Leanne sighs, running a hand through her knotted hair. This situation was getting worse and worse. She knew she'd have to come clean soon, it was all just a matter of how they would take it. "The entire time you have been here... I was on the other side." His gaze lands on Teresa. "So were you." His eyes shift to Leanne. "And you, for a little while." She nods.

Teresa looks between the two. "What?"

"Teresa, we did this to them." He tells her.

"No." She shakes her head. "That can't be true."

"It is." Leane adds. She knows it for herself, because she truly remembers everything. During her sleepless night, she had figured it all out. She pieced together all of her memories, and although everything was still fuzzy and confusing, she understood the overall idea of it all.

"I saw it." Thomas nods.

"And I remember it." Leanne adds once again. Newt shifts his gaze over to her, and sighs, running a hand over his face.

"Why would they send us up if we were with them?" She asks quickly, clearly confused. Leanne shakes her head, because she knows the exact reason she was sent up to to the Glade. She knew that fighting back had consequences, some worse than others.

"It doesn't matter." Her shakes his head.

"He's right." Newt finally speaks up. "It doesn't matter." He shakes his head. "Any of it." Leanne turns her head to watch him as he speaks. "Because the people we were before the maze don't even exist anymore. These Creators took care of that." Leanne watches as Teresa looks to the ground. "But what does matter is who we are now, and what we do... right now." Looking directly at Thomas, he speaks with more authority in his voice. "You went into the maze and you found a way out."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't, Alby would still be alive." Thomas responds.

"Maybe." Newt says shortly. Leanne looks down at the dirt. She feels guilty. She feels like she should've been there to help, but she instead had to be her clumsy self and trip. She doesn't think it's her fault, but she wishes she could've been there to do something to help. Maybe if she'd been there, Alby would be here now. "But I know that if he were here, he would be telling you the exact same thing. Pick your ass up and finish what you started." Leanne grabs onto his hand that rests on his leg. "Because if we do nothing... then that means Alby died for nothing, and I can't have that." The teens let Newt's words sink in.

"Okay." Thomas nods. "Okay, but we gotta get through Gally first."

They sit in silence for a minute, before Minho decides to speak up. "Before we start that, can we know how Leanne remembers?" The group of Gladers all twist so they're facing her.

"Ha..." She trails off, running her hand down the back of her neck. "Long story short, and when I first arrived I hit my head, and I guess that when I did, it kinda made something go off." She sighs, looking at Teresa, then at Newt. "My dreams, they aren't really dreams. They're memories I'm getting back." She tells them. "And I think that the pains in my head I've gotten twice now, are from getting my memories back." She glances over at Chuck, who watches the girl wide-eyed. "It's a painful process, really." She admits.

Teresa's the first to speak up. "So that's how you knew my name." Leanne nods.

"And when Thomas arrives, you already knew him?" Chuck asks, frowning.

"Yes, but I didn't realize it until a little later." She shakes her head. "Sometimes, the memories are hazy."

Newt frowns. "How hazy?"

Looking over at him, Leanne shrugs. "Faces are blurry, but I understand what's going on." They nod in understanding.

"Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy." Thomas begins. "And honestly, you don't have to believe me, even though it's the truth." He looks over at Teresa and she nods to him. "Teresa and I have a... gift that made us very valuable as they designed and built this place." Thomas stops, thinking about how to word what he's going to say.

"Spit it out!" Newt yells.

"We're telepathic! We can talk to each other in our freaking heads!" Thomas suits his mouth quickly, looking down in his lap almost ashamed.

Leanne wasn't sure if she wanted to lean over and smack upside the head or look to Teresa for a better explanation.

"What?" Minho laughs. "Very funny."

Newt watches Thomas cautiously, turning to Teresa for answers. "It's true." Teresa shrugs.

"How?" Leanne frowns.

Teresa sits up a little straighter. "I think The Creators did this to us."

The others nod, deciding that was enough questions, and get to work on making a plan. For most of the time, Leanne sat there, unresponsive. She wasn't sure how she felt about leaving, because she knew how dangerous it was out there, however if they stayed they'd be picked off one by one. It was the first choice she'd had to make on her own in a while; if she left, or if she stayed. She wanted to leave with the rest of them, and she hoped dearly that Gally and the others would leave with them too, but she wasn't sure how things were going to go down.

So, when the group had decided on a final plan, and Minho, Newt, Chuck and Leanne had left the pit, she'd pulled Newt away. "Can we talk?" She asks. He nods, and she limps over to a log for the two to sit on. They hadn't much time until the banishment Gally had planned. Only a couple hours.

"What's wrong, Leanne?" Newt looks over st the blonde girl, concerned. "I've never seen you so quiet, so..." He searches for the right word to describe how she is right now. "So not you." He finally chooses.

"I need you to promise me something." She starts, looking down at her hands in her lap. "We all have a choice to make. It's individual." She sighs. "I need you to promise me that if something happens... if I'm not able to come, you'll leave me behind." Newt opens his mouth to protest but Leanne's quicker. "Hear me out!" She takes his hand in her own. "I'm not saying I'm not coming, I'm just trying to say..." She shakes her head, words not coming to her. "I'm injured, so I'll only slow you down. And I want all of you to get out. But, I've ran the Maze before, so if I don't come with you today, I'll catch up as soon as my ankle is better." She glances down at her wrapped ankle. "Please, Newt. Promise me." She pleads.

Newt looks at her hesitantly for a minute, weighing his options. Giving in, he sighs. "I promise, Lee." He nods. "Doesn't mean I agree, but I promise." She smiles sadly. "I want you to promise the same thing in return." He adds. "If anything happens to me, you leave me." Pursing her lips, Leanne nods. "Good." Getting up, he offers his hand out to help her up. "Let's go get ready."

Sitting on her cot in the small hut she called her own, Leanne couldn't bring herself to rest. She'd been ordered to bed rest, no one wanting her to hurt herself more. However, she found herself restless. Leanne wanted to get out there and help as much as she could, but sneaking out was out of the question. Outside her door sat Dan, a builder that Gally had wanted to keep an eye on her. Gally had claimed Dan was there to help her, but Leanne knew that the builder was there to make sure she didn't go help Newt in the gardens, or go to the Med-jack hut to try and help anyone who injured themselves.

She couldn't quite describe the feeling, but it was something of pain, of sadness. The Glade, that had once been her home, was now now the worst place to be. Now, it was considered dangerous, and it was just a matter of how long they had left to live. For Thomas and Teresa, it was easy. They hadn't been there for three years. She wasn't ready for whatever was about to go down, and yet everyone else was. So, when she heard the Gladers begin to make their way over to the Maze doors, she didn't go. Instead, she watched from the small window in her hut as Thomas pretended to be unconscious, then surprised them all. She watched as Thomas asked if anyone else wanted to come with them, and she watched as he glanced around the Glade, looking for her.

All Thomas saw was a dark shadow in the window of Leanne's hut, and he came to a realization. Although he couldn't understand why, he knew she wasn't coming. Not right now, at least. Just as fast as he had spotted the shadow in the window, it was gone.

Leanne opened the door to her hut, where Dan no longer sat. When their eyes met, she stood still, then, she did the thing she thought most logical. She waved goodbye. Slowly, like a flag waving in the softest gust of wind. Without wasting another second, he turned around, running off into the Maze.

The last Leanne saw of Thomas, was him glancing back at her, standing in front of her little hut, in her ripped blue overalls and floral orange shirt, waving goodbye.


	11. Dear Chuck

**SOME PEOPLE REGRET** things the second after making their choice, and other don't. Some people regret it later, and some never. Leanne couldn't come to terms with what she felt. She couldn't regret something she was never going to do, because she was never going to go with the group of people who left. No, she was planning on convincing Gally to go with her, when her ankle was healed. Of course, time wasn't on her side.

After the group had left, Gally had stormed to the Council Hall. He'd been in there alone for a couple minutes before Leanne decided to go see him.

"Hey," She stood in the doorway of the circular hut, watching him cautiously. Gally was sitting on one of the benches in the room. "Are you okay?"

Sighing, Gally ran his hands over his face. "I think I've messed up, Lea." He rests his head in his hands, and elbows on his knees. "I really messed up this time."

Leanne walks over to sit beside him, resting a hand on his arm. "Explain to me why you think you messed up."

Gally raises his head from his hands, and she finally gets a good look at his red rimmed eyes. "The people who left were my friends," He looks away from her and towards the door. "And I let them go on their own. I should've gone with them." He shakes his head. "But then I would've been leaving you behind."

Sighing, Leanne looks down at her lap. She was in conflict, because she felt like she was letting people down. She felt sad, because she felt like she was holding Gally back. He wanted to go. He wanted to leave with everyone else, for once. "You weren't wrong, you know." Leane says suddenly. Gally frowns, confused. "About leaving. The world out there is dangerous." And so, Leanne made the choice to come clean. She was completely honest with him, admitting that she remembered everything. It wasn't easy, and Gally had questions, but she made sure to make it quick. "It doesn't matter, how the world is out there." She wobbles to a standing position. "Let's go catch up with them." Holding out her hand towards him, Gally looks up at her hand, then to her face. He grabs onto her hand, and drags her out to where the other Gladers sit.

"What are you shanks doing?" Dan asks from the group of boys.

"Listen up," Leanne hops forward. "We're going to catch up with the others. If any of you want to come, then you're free to come."

"So you weren't going to go and now you are?" One of the boys asks loudly from behind Dan.

"Yes." Gally says loudly enough for all of them to hear him. "It probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but we are. It's dangerous everywhere, so why get picked off one by one here when we can fight back?" He asks theoretically. "In the end, we're going to run out of food and all of our supplies. Might as well go now with everyone else."

Dan stands up. "Why should we listen to you? No one put you in charge!" He says loudly, rebelliously. The other boys cheer, agreeing with him. "You and the petty princess can leave all you want. Good luck against the Grievers!" He snarls.

Everyone had expected Leanne to lash out, but she wasn't in the mood for the boy's antics. Instead, she calmly grabs onto Gally's arm, and begins to walk towards the Maze doors. "Let's just go."

With Gally's help, they began to gain speed. She had one arm wrapped around his neck, and he had an arm around her waist. She hopped around on one foot, slowing them down a little. Whenever they encountered a fork in the hall, she'd tell him which direction to go. "I'm really happy you decided to not listen to Alby, and run into the Maze." Gally chuckles.

"That is a good thing." She says as she runs them down a hallway, turning into section seven, where the tall blades of metal were. Remembering what Minho and Thomas had told her, she turns left with Gally by her side. She already felt uneasy, and she wasn't even near the exit. Finally, she saw the saw the long bridge Thomas and Minho had explained. The familiar noise of clicking was heard, and she stopped in her tracks. By then, they were halfway across the bridge. From behind them, where the clicking of metal was heard, there a loud screech. The two turn around quickly to face a Griever, ready to pounce.

Holding the knives they'd both brought along, Gally let go of Leanne to get closer to the beast. Leanne wastes no time running over to the closed cement wall, tapping it to find how to open it. "Shit! I think we need the metal thing they had!" Leanne yells, glancing back at Gally, who picks up a spear on the ground and throws it at a Griever, sending it backwards off the path only for another one to come.

Leanne goes to move backwards, but finds her feet sticking slightly to the ground. She looks down to see a dead Griever, probably squished by the cement wall when it closed. Crouching down, she moves some of the metal outside to the side, then sticks her hand in, grabbing onto the first organ she felt. It not being the heart, she stuck her hand back it. Grabbing onto another organ, she takes out the heart. She pulls on the metal cords sticking out at the end, revealing another one of the metal contraptions. This one starts beeping right away, and the doors open, revealing more dead Grievers. "Wow, they really beat 'em." She gets up, spinning around to see Gally fighting off another Griever. "It's open!" She yells. He grunts in response, then takes another swing at it. Leanne turns around, picking up her pace. She can tell that Gally's losing ground, and she's worried about what that means for them.

She runs to the end, watching as the screen comes to life. Numbers spin in circles, waiting for her to put them in order. "Eight digits." She says to herself. Another grunt comes from Gally, and Leanne tries to hurry up. Inhaling sharply, she gasps. "The order!" Luckily, when she'd started going into the Maze for little bits at a time, Minho had made her memorize which section would be open when. So here she found herself, finally putting that to good use. _7, 1, 5, 6, 4, 8–_ a yell from behind her broke her from her trance before she could put in the last digit. Turning around quickly, and hopping forward on one foot, Leanne's eyes widen as she takes in Gally with the Griever's stinger in stomach. "No!" She screams. Ignoring the pain in her ankle, Leanne uses both feet to run forward and swing the long machete to separate the stinger from the Griever's long claw. She was prepared to fight, but once the stinger came off the Griever stumbled back. Now, there was nothing left to do but run and pray. So, supporting Gally and herself, Leanne ran as fast as she could towards the screen, punching in the last number. _3_. The once red screen now green, the door opens, and she pulls Gally inside quickly, walking away quickly. She glances back just in time to see the Griever squished as the door closes behind them.

Exhaling, she sets Gally down on the ground, but he seems restless. "Oh no." She kneels beside him, and takes a hold of the stinger still hanging from his stomach. "I'm going to need to take this out." She says.

He nods absentmindedly. "Make it quick." She nods, and tightens her grip on the metal, pulling it out quickly. Gally lets out a gasp of pain, and bends forwards, coughing.

Leanne steps back from him, and he stands up, not facing her. She finally takes in the long cement tunnel. Lights already filled the hall, and little pieces of dirt are on the ground, walking in one direction. "They went this way." She points towards the direction in which she's looking. Gally doesn't reply, and Leanne turns around. He's still not facing her, but now he stands there with his back straight and shoulders back. "Gally?"

Suddenly, he turns around. Leanne eyes widen in fear as she takes in his black eyes, and the veins creeping up on his face. She begins to back up, but Gally's quicker, grabbing onto the girl and spinning her around so her back is against his chest and his arm is wrapped around her neck.

"You were one of them." He growls. "You worked with Thomas."

They slowly walk down the hallway, Leanne not letting out one whimper as she tries to make a plan. The further they get down the hall, the more she becomes desperate. As they continue to walk, Leanne decides it's be better if she talked. "Gally, you don't want to do this." She says, her voice shaking slightly. "We'll be safe, we'll find somewhere safe." She pleads. "Come on, Gally." She whispers just loud enough for him to hear. "Remember when we'd talk about finding a way out?"

Gally stops abruptly, turning her around to grip her wrists tightly, impaling her skin with his nails. "That was when we were younger. When we'd first arrived. When we were young and dumb." He spins her back around, pushing her forward more harshly and beginning to walk faster. Voices are heard, and they stop beside a door, still open. Leanne pushes it open, and Gally continues to walk behind her. This hallway is much shorter, leading to a bigger room. People lay, slumped against the walls, dead. Leanne's breath hitches in her throat, and Gally stops to quietly pick up a small gun. They walk around broken glass, and Leanne finally gets a look at who made it. The group in front of her stare at the open doors, unaware of her or Gally's presence.

"Is it over?" Chuck asks.

"She said we were important." Newt points out. "What are we supposed to do now?" He asks.

A silence overtakes the group, then Thomas breaks it. "I don't know." He pauses. "Let's get out of here."

"No." Gally says, raising the gun to point it at Leanne's head. His hands shakes as he presses it against her temple. The group quickly turns to face the two.

"Gally?" Thomas goes to step forward, but Teresa stops him.

"Don't! He's been stung." She points out.

"We can't leave." Gally says, pushing the gun harder into Leanne's temple, making her whimper.

Newt watches her worriedly as Thomas speaks, trying to calm Gally. "We did. Gally, we're out." Newt makes eyes contact with Leanne, and she mouths _sorry_ , closing her eyes as tears fall down her cheeks. "We're free."

"Free?" Gally asks. "You think we're free out there?" He lets the gun drop to his side, making Leanne exhale. "No. No, there's no escape from this place." This time, he raises the gun to point it at Thomas, but he still keeps his left arm wrapped around Leanne's neck.

"Gally, please don't." Leanne pleads. "Please," She shakes her head. "Listen, yes, we were young and stupid when we talked about escaping, but we have. We made it out." She brings her hands up to put on top of the arm wrapped around her neck. "We're still young, and we still have a chance to live. You just have to put the gun down."

Gally isn't having any of it. "You know how it is out there!" He says loudly to her. "You know that it's dangerous!"

"It's dangerous everywhere." She says shortly.

"Gally, listen to me. You're not thinking straight." Thomas shifts from foot to foot, nervous. "You're not. Now, we can help you." Leanne's eyes flicker over to Minho, who grips his spear. Her lowers his head a little, warning her. "Just put down the gun."

"I belong to the maze." Gally says, not listening to Thomas.

"Just put down the gun." Now the rest of the group shifts uneasily.

"We all do." He says.

Minho pulls back his arm and Leanne jumps out of the way, grunting when the spear grazes her arm, but it doesn't stop there. She spins around quickly, wide-eyed, to see Gally struggling to breath with the spear in her chest. He then falls to his knees, and then onto his side, where his whole body relaxes.

Leanne fights the second round of tears about to fall from her eyes, because even though Gally has caused them pain, he was her friend, and it was hard to see him lifeless on the ground. Suddenly, a voice interrupts her thoughts. "Thomas." Chuck says. Turning on her heels quickly, she sees Chuck fall over as Thomas grabs onto him, laying him gently on his back as the blood stain on his shirt expands.

Leanne comes over quickly, kneeling beside Chuck. "Oh shit. Shit." Leanne's Med-jack skills kick in and she places her hands on Chuck's wound. She wasn't thinking of all the blood that would later stain her hands, or the bullet underneath of them. No, she was thinking of the sweet boy she'd thought of as a little brother. "Look at me, look at me!" Thomas pleads. "Oh shit!" He breaths out. "Chuck, look at me, all right?" Leanne lifts her head to look at the rest of the group, but doesn't remove her hands from Chuck's wound. "I got you, buddy. Just hang on." Leanne lifts her hands off to quickly rip a sleeve of her quarter length shirt off, pressing it onto the wound.

"It's okay." Chuck exhales. "Thomas, Thomas..." He raises his hand, revealing the wood relic he'd tried to give Thomas when he was in the pit.

"No, Chuck. You're gonna give it to them yourself." Thomas tells him. "Remember, I told you that."

"Take it." Chuck's breaths become shallower as he struggles to breath.

Thomas takes it from Chuck's hand.

"Thank you." Chuck says to Leanne. He looks over at Thomas, and his eyes soften. "Thank you." His body relaxes under Leanne hands, and his struggle to breath stops

"Chuck. Chuck?" Thomas asks. Leanne's heart shatters into a million piece as she takes her hands off the wound. This time, she can't stop the tears that run down her face. "Hey. Hey, Chuck, come on!" Thomas shakes Chuck's body, but doesn't get a response. "Come on, wake up!" He pleads. "Damn it!" His sobs. "We made it. Come on." Leane shuffles back on her knees, looking down at her blood stained hands as more tears fall. Glass shards cut her knees, but she's not paying attention to the pain. To the pain coming from her arm, nor from her wrists where Gally's nails impaled her. She's paying attention to the pain in her heart. The pain that only gets worse as she watches Thomas cry over Chuck's body, and as she raises her eyes to see the rest of the group crying. Newt comes over to the crying girl and pulls her into his arms, comforting her. "I'm sorry! God damn it!" He yells. The doors behind them open and light floods the hallway as people run inside. "Damn it!"

"Thomas." Teresa tries to get his attention.

"Chuck!" He yells, not getting up front his spot. "Get up, Chuck! Come on! Chuck!" As everyone else leaves voluntarily, Thomas crawls back to Chuck.

Leanne stays planted in her spot, so Newt runs back to grab onto her arm, breaking her from her trance. "We have to go, Leanne." He says softly. She nods absentmindedly, following Newt out of the dark facility and out into the blinding sunlight, where she can see nothing but sand in every direction.

Drowning out every other sound she hears, Leanne runs behind the rest of the group, and gets into the helicopter, ignoring the help people offered her. She sits in the empty spot beside Newt, then Thomas comes in to sit on her other side. "You guys alright?" A man asks, taking his mask off. No one answers him. "Don't worry. You're safe now." The helicopter takes off, and Leanne leans into Newt, who sits beside a window. Thomas leans into Leanne, and they all get a look at the Maze as they get higher. Every section of the Maze can be seen, and in the middle, the Glade. Leanne leans away from Newt, slumping back against the wall behind her. "Relax, kid." The man says. "Everything is gonna change."

In that moment, Leanne knew the man was right. Everything was gonna change. However, looking down at her blood stained hands, blood which belonged to Chuck, then back up at Thomas, who was also looking at her hands, she knew they weren't safe. She knew that even though they'd made it out of the Maze, this was just the beginning.


	12. THE SCORCH TRIALS

**THE GROUP WAS** ushered out of the helicopter. Leanne could feel the sand fill her shoes as she ran towards the building. Running in the sand was difficult with her injured ankle, not to mention it was dark, but the place was lit up. The building stood tall, considering there was nothing else around it. Intimidating lights moved back and forth, almost like the lights were searching for something, or someone. Men around her yelled, and shot at people behind her. She kept hearing one word yelled: _cranks_. Beside her, Thomas turns around and runs back to the helicopter. The wind was cold on her shoulders. She had not much to keep her warm; part of her sleeve was gone, due to the fact that she'd ripped it off to use as a temporary bandage for Chuck, and her other arm ached from where the spear had grazed her. 

She runs towards the large warehouse and passed doors that were beginning to close. Then, Leanne turns around to see Thomas just making it in as the doors close behind him. The warehouse was big, and had plenty of supplies. People bustled around them, going about their usual business. It was one of the men who had been in the helicopter with them who approached the group, letting them know that going to bring them somewhere they could stay for the moment.

He led them to a room where there were bunks, tables, food and blankets. One by one, they go into the room, looking around. "Someone will come for you." The man nods, closing the door behind him.

They all stood in a line side by side, no one moving. They were all planted to their spots, and it seemed as if most of them refused to move. They were either lost in thought, or too shocked to feel anything. Leanne seemed to be the latter, but she couldn't ignore her growling stomach. She watches her fellow Gladers, and is the first to move. Leanne grabs a blanket and wraps herself it. Everyone watches as she grabs a box of crackers and rips the packaging open. Before grabbing one to eat, she looks up at the Gladers watching her. "Oh stop starring!" She exhales, exasperated. "You're all hungry." She grabs an unopened package of crackers from beside her to throw at Minho, who catches it swiftly.

"You're just going to eat these random strangers' food?" Newt asks.

She shrugs. "Well, yeah. I'm hungry, and tired, and they're the ones who got us out of that awful place. If it weren't for them we'd be dying in the desert right about now."

Teresa sends her a small smile, then goes to sit down. She's followed by Minho, Newt, Frypan, Winston, and finally Thomas, who sits beside Leanne.

They all sit in silence eating their food before small conversations begin between some of the teens. Leanne's head was clear, and yet it wasn't. There was a sense of peacefulness, yet there was still conflict. Yes, they were out of the Maze, but now what we're they going to do? Were they going to stick together? Or were they going to all go their own ways? Leanne knew her parents were dead but Thomas didn't know anything about his, so would he want to find them? Would the others do the same as him? Or her? Maybe even something completely different?

A hand on her elbow startles her from her thoughts. She turns to see Thomas holding out a first aid kit expectantly, then looking down at her arm. Leanne nods, and Thomas opens the kit. Without saying anything, he wraps bandages on Leanne's wrist where Gally left marks, then on her upper arm where the spear grazed her arm.

"Funny, I remember the roles switched." She says, referring to when she put the bandage on Thomas' wrist after Ben attacked him. A small smile is placed on his face, but it doesn't stay there for long. "Hey, we'll be fine." She whispers to him quietly. He tilts his head to look down in his lap, but she places her hands on his cheeks, gently pulling his head up to look at her. "We're safe now." He nods, but unconvincingly. He didn't believe her. Thomas believed that they still had a lot more coming towards them. "I'm sorry." Leanne's voice breaks Thomas from his thoughts. "I'm so sorry, Thomas."

Thomas frowns. "For what?"

"I couldn't save him." His arms were quick to pull her into a tight hug. The warmth of his body was comforting for Leanne. It was a distant memory. Without being specific, Thomas knew who she was talking about. He just hadn't known she was already blaming herself. "He didn't deserve to die."

"He didn't." Thomas sighs. "But it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it is." She protests. "If I had helped Gally, he wouldn't have been stung. If he hadn't been stung, then he would've never had the gun and he would've never fired."

"If I had never even arrived in the Maze then everyone would still be alive."

"If you hadn't arrived then we'd still all be in the Maze."

"You'd all be alive." He contradicts.

"Living in hell." Leanne pulls away from him just enough to see his face. "If you'd never come we would all still be living in that hellhole." She whispers. "We would never meet again." She gestures between the two of them, then the rest of the group. "You'd still be working to Wicked."

"But—"

"No buts!" She pulls away from him completely, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders tighter. "Everything we've been through, it's for the people who didn't make it." Her eyes wander over to Newt and Minho, then Teresa and Winston. "We're still fighting for the people that didn't make it." Finally, her eyes land on Thomas. "We're not giving up. Not now, not ever."

"Are you two done?" Newt chuckles, making the two turn to look at the others, who're all watching them now. "You're fighting like a bloody couple." He grins, almost in an evil way. Like he knows something the two didn't.

"Shut up, Newt."

As others began to add little comments, the air in the room became less thick. Leanne watched her friends —her family— laughing and smiling. No one was thinking of the future, the past, or even anyone else out of the room. They were enjoying what they had there, right now.

After having eaten plenty of food and made a mess on the table, the teens moved towards the bunks. Newt grabs one of the mattresses off a bunk and places it on the floor to sit on.

Thomas and Teresa got up to go sit with him, followed by Frypan.

Leanne got up from the bench just to go lay down on the surface of another table further back in the room. She stretched her tired limbs out, yawning. "I'm so tired." She mumbles to Minho, who's come to lay beside her on the table. Minho nods in return, then rests his head on her shoulder. Although the recent events that occurred in the Maze had split them up a bit, Leanne had always thought of Minho in a brotherly way. When she first arrived in the Maze, he had been sassy with the others but he had always been kind with her. As the years progressed he may have sassed her as well, but he was always caring.

"How are you holding up?" Leanne asks the boy beside her. She didn't want to ask him if he was okay; it was clear no one in the room was okay. Everyone was shaken up. From the second they entered the Maze, they'd always assumed there was nothing left of the world but the Maze. However, now they were able to see there was more to the world than a cement wall.

"It feels weird to be out." Minho shrugs. "For three years, all I've known is the Maze. Now, I know there's so much more. It's overwhelming." Leanne sighs, but doesn't respond. How are you supposed to respond to something when you only agree? "How are you feeling, Lee?"

The brunette's eyes are closed, keeping the tears from falling. Again, she didn't know how to answer. "I'm surviving."

"Is that really enough, though?" Minho whispers, so only she can hear. A tear trails down her cheek, and she feels Minho pull his head off her shoulder to wipe the tear that fell. "We're gonna be fine." He tells her reassuringly.

"Yeah, I know." She didn't really know. She was trying to reassure Minho —to reassure herself— although it wasn't very successful. "I'm just being overemotional." Leanne feels the heat radiating off Minho's body disappear. When she opens her eyes, Minho's moving to go sit with Winston, Tim and Jack, further back into the room. He sends her a small smile, which she returns quickly.

She stays on the table alone, not bothering to move. She listens to the others talk, sometimes quiet laughter can be heard.

The chatter in the air was quickly quieted as the door swung open. Leanne sits up quickly to see a man, wearing a grey turtle neck and black leather jacket on top. His eyes roamed over the kids before speaking. "You kids doing all right?" Quickly, the kids make their way towards the doorway where the man is standing. "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm."

Leanne stops to stand beside Minho, more off to the side. There was something she didn't like about the man, however she wasn't able to explain how she could tell. "Who the hell are you?" She says, making the words come off meaner than she meant.

"I'm the reason you're all still alive." His eyes move over to look at her. A flash of disappointment appears in his eyes, but it disappears before Leanne can pin exactly what it is. "It's my intention to keep you that way." He says shortly. "Now, come with me." He begins to leave. "We'll get you kids squared away."

The group of teens follow the grey-haired man down the hallway and out into a bigger area where there's construction going on. "You can call me Mr. Janson. I run this place." Leanne ignores him, looking around the building. It didn't seem too old, especially considering it was unfinished. "For us it is a sanctuary, safe from the horrors of the outside world."

The brunette trails at the end of the group, getting momentarily distracted when she sees a man in a lab coat —presumably a doctor— heading down a hallway with a stack of papers. Newt sees this, and slows down enough to grab onto Leanne's arm, making sure she turns down the same hallway as them. "You all should think of it as a way station." Janson says from the head of the group. "Kind of a home between homes."

"You need to pay attention, Lee." Newt mumbles to her. "You wouldn't want to get lost in here."

"I don't know, Newt." She responds quietly. "I think I might just want to give myself a tour of the place." Newt raises his eyebrows towards her, a look she vaguely remembers her mother sending her when she was warning her or Teresa to not do something stupid.

As the two catch up to the group, they're able to hear Janson respond to one of the Gladers. "A home of sorts." He says shortly. "Sadly, there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from." Leanne finds herself walking between Minho and Newt, almost like they planned to keep an eye on her. Newt knew she wanted to run off and explore, and Minho suspected the curious girl wanted to go. "But we do have a place for you." He tells them. The teens look from one to another, surprised by this revelation. Maybe even excited. "A refuge, outside the Scorch, where WICKED will never find you again." He twists to face them while still walking. "How does that sound?"

They're quiet for a second before Minho speaks up for the group. "Why are you helping us?" Thomas glances back to them when Minho says this, making eye contact with Leanne. He's quick to look back in front of him. He's avoiding her now; Leanne knows it, but she doesn't know why. They had opened up to each other when they were speaking, but it seemed Thomas was closing back up again.

"Let's just say the world out there is in a rather precarious situation. We're all hanging on by a very thin thread." Mr Janson continues to walk, not bothering to look back as he answers Minho. "The fact that you kids can survive the Flare virus... makes you the best chance of humanity's continued survival." He turns a corner, walking towards a door. "Unfortunately, it also makes you a target, as no doubt by now you've noticed." He slows as they get closer to the large door.

"And who's to say you're not going to be one of those people who experiments on us here?" Leanne says loudly.

Surprised, Janson turns to look at the girl. "Leanne!" Teresa scolds loudly.

"No, no. It's okay." Janson raises his hand towards Teresa, telling her to stop. "I just told you we are going to help you. If we think you're all the best chance of humanity's survival, why would we experiment on you?"

"I don't know?" She says sarcastically. "Maybe so you can find the treatment for the virus, so humanity can actually survive? You did say yourself: we're the best chance of humanity's survival."

As the others watch her anxiously, and even curiously, Janson smiles at the girl. "I assure you that I did not mean it that way." Leanne's taken aback by how calm the older man is, even after she just accused him of planning on experimenting on them. She's surprised because she was trying to press his buttons; she wanted to crack him. She wanted Janson to slip up on her. She needed something to latch onto. Something she could claw at until the truth was revealed about _everything_. "Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new lives." He scans his card, making the door open and revealing a long hallway. "First things first... let's do something about that smell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aisling Franciosi  
> as  
> Juno
> 
> "i hold so many small regrets  
> and what-ifs down inside my head  
> some confidence it couldn't hurt me"
> 
> Prom Dress - mxmtoon


	13. Making Friends

**THE HOT WATER** ran down Leanne body soothingly. Through the vents, she could hear the boys yelling out about how good the water felt. She and Teresa had been shown to the women's shower room, down the hall from the men's one. When they'd opened the door, twelve shower stalls lined both sides of the room. However, only two shower stalls were currently being used.

As the water washed away the grime, Leanne realized it wasn't just the dirt she was getting rid of. It was like she was starting fresh; cleaning out her past to start a new life.

Turning the shower off, she dries off wraps the towel around her body. With the water off, she could hear sniffles coming from the stall on the other side of the room. Once she's out of hers, she walks down the room towards the stall where the crying is coming from. She knocks on the stall quietly. "Teresa?" The crying quiets down, but Teresa doesn't reply. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I guess." She sniffles. The towel disappears from the top of the stall door.

Leanne leans against the door, sighing. "Are you sure?"

Teresa's reply is quiet, and nearly passes over Leanne's head. "No."

"If you wanna talk, just let me know." Leanne begins to move away from the door. "Us girls have to stick together, right?"

"Yeah." Teresa chuckles.

Leanne walks towards the pile of clothes someone had placed on the bench in the middle of the room. Multiple shirts and pants were folded, giving Leanne many options. In the end, the brunette pulls on a pair of beige trousers, paired with a white short sleeve shirt.

Once she was dressed, the teen sits down on the bench to wait for her friend. Teresa had already taken some clothes and was getting dressed in her shower stall. While she's waiting, the door opens. A female comes to stand in the doorway. Her blue pants and matching shirt brought back long forgotten memories of hospitals. "Please come with me, Miss." the lady says softly.

Leanne gestures behind her. "I'm waiting for my friend."

The lady smiles politely. "Someone else will come to get her." Leanne sighs, then moves to follow the woman out the door. They walk down the hallway, then turn right. The lady brings her to the end of the hall, where a set of double doors stand. Pushing the doors open, the teenager is brought into a medical lab. The boys are already scattered around the room, speaking with other doctors. Some of the boys hear the doors shut, and turn their eyes towards Leanne. Newt, being one of those boys, sends a smile towards her. She manages a small smile in return.

The doctor stops once they've reached the very back of the room, and instructs Leanne to sit on the uncomfortable bed. Leaving the curtains open and taking a seat beside the desk, the doctor opens a beige file. "I'm Doctor Katherine McDonnell, but you can just call me Kate." She smiles, picking up a pen. "I'm just going to ask you some questions first, okay?"

"Yes." Leanne mumbles shyly.

"Okay. Do you remember your full name?"

This was something Leanne hadn't thought about in a long time. "Um, yeah, I do." Kate clicks her pen open, ready to write it down. "Isla Monroe." She shuffled uncomfortably. "I just go by Leanne. It's the name the Creators gave me."

"What do you remember from before your time in the Maze?"

"I remember my family, and what happened." Leanne says quietly.

"How long were you in the Maze?"

She gulps. "Three years."

The questions were simple. Leanne kept her answers short, feeling nervous in this new place. There was something off about the entire place. However, Kate was nice. When some answers would take longer for Leanne to answer, the would smile encouragingly, and tell her to take her time. She wasn't rushing her.

"Are you, or have you been, sexually active?" The question makes the brunette's cheeks burn red.

"No, never." She rubs her neck uncomfortably as the lady watches her.

"Okay. I'm going to give you a shot," Kate raises the needle sitting on the desk. "And its just going to pinch."

"What's the shot for?" Leanne's voice wavers.

"Oh, it's just things you've been deprived of while you were in the Maze." Kate smiles. "Just some calcium, folate, and vitamins A through Z." She stands up with the needle. "Just relax, Leanne." She smiles, placing her hand on the younger girls shoulder.

The brunette exhales, and relaxes her left arm. She watches Minho run on a treadmill across the room, trying to take her mind off the needle going into her arm. After a little pinch, the doctor pulls away. "That's it." Kate smiles. She places the needle into a waste bin, then sits back down. "I just have a couple more questions for you before you leave." Leanne nods, taking her eyes off Minho, who's still running on the treadmill. "Do you get your menstruation regularly?"

Leanne feels her cheeks heat up once again. "Yes."

"There is no need to be embarrassed." Kate reassures her. "Every girl gets it." Her pen hovers over the paper before she sets it down. "This is just me being curious, and you don't have to answer," Kate begins, making Leanne nervous. "But how did you deal with it in the Maze?"

A smile breaks out onto Leanne's face, and she lets out a quiet laugh. "Sorry, I was just expecting something worse." Leanne stops smiling to answer. "They would send me stuff up in the box."

"Any other injuries you want to tell me about?"

Leanne was about to say no, when the thought of her ankle came into mind. Telling Kate this, the older woman takes a look at her ankle before wrapping it with a bandaid, announcing that it's just sprained.

"So, I'll need you to come back tomorrow morning for some blood tests. You can come after breakfast." Leanne nods. "Oh! And before I forget, would you like to be placed in a bunk room with other girls, or do you want to stick with the boys?"

The question was surprising. She didn't know how long she'd be here, so should she branch off and make friends or stay with the boys. "Um, can I be placed with some girls?" She says, unsure of herself.

Kate nods. "If you change your mind, come see me and I'll figure something out for you."

•••

Once Kate was finished running tests on Leanne, Kate leads her out of the medical lab. Everyone else was still there, meaning she was the first to leave. She's brought through multiple hallways before Kate brings her into a room. Two bunk beds were pushed against the wall to her left, with one across from them on the right. A wall-mounted sink was on her right, with a bathroom stall beside it.

Five girls laid on the beds throughout the room. The first girl to stand up is short. Her skin was dark, and her curly brown hair was passing her shoulders. The next girl to stand is a pale girl with long brown hair, followed by a shorter girl with short blonde hair, barely passing her shoulders.

"Girls, this is Leanne. She'll be staying with you until decided otherwise." Kate smiles to the girls before beginning to walk backwards out the door. "Make the introductions quick, dinner is in twenty minutes."

The last two girls stand up to greet Leanne. The first girl is tall, and has long blonde hair. "Hi! I'm Hally." She says excitedly.

The second girl is pale with short strawberry blonde hair. "I'm Luna." She nervously tucks her hair behind her ear.

"I'm Kiko." The girl with curly brown hair waves in a friendly way.

The shorter girl with short blonde hair follows Kiko's gesture. "I'm Reese." When she speaks, her accent surprises Leanne. It's similar to Newt's.

The last girl —skinny with long brown hair — smiles from the back of the group. "I'm Juno, but everyone calls me June."

"It's nice to meet you all." Leanne smiles. "I'm Leanne."

"Is it true you were in a Maze with all boys?" Reese bursts out suddenly, sitting on one of the bunks. The other girls follow suit quickly, and Leanne sits on the empty one.

"Reese!" Luna scolds.

Hally snorts from her top bunk. "I wish." She turns to face Leanne, her stare boring into her eyes. "It was probably a rumour, right Leanne?"

Leanne felt the strong urge to lie, however she knew she couldn't get away with a lie that big. Hally was intimidating, and the new girl felt as if she controlled this little pack of girls. "Well, no."

"So you really were the only girl?" Kiko asks curiously.

"The last few days we were in the Maze another girl arrived, but for the other three years I was there, it was just me with a whole bunch of boys." She shrugs.

A smirk appears on Hally's face. "So you probably got some, huh?"

Leanne's cheeks burn red, and she doesn't know how to answer the question. "She's obviously not as slutty as you, Hally, so no, she probably didn't." Juno snarls towards Hally.

The other girls snicker quietly, and Leanne realizes Hally had no control over these girls. They weren't people who followed someone else. "So, were you girls in the same Maze?" Leanne changes the subject.

Hally was left to sulk on her bunk while the other girls all crowded around one bed. Leanne learnt that they were indeed all from the same Maze, where it was all girls. Of the group in the room, Kiko had arrived first, followed by Hally, Juno, Reese, then Luna. Luna was one of the last girls to arrive, and hadn't gotten used to life in the Maze before they were saved and brought here, which is why she's so shy.

Their conversation was cut short when the door opened, and a guard stood there, telling them it was dinner time.

The five girls lead the new brunette towards the cafeteria, chatting loudly. Once arrived, Leanne sees plenty of other kids, already seated with food. The girls lead Leanne over to the food line, and pile food onto their plates before getting trays and going to sit at a table on the far right of the room. Once seated beside Juno, Leanne realizes Hally's continued walking to go sit with a group of boys and girls. "What's up with Hally?"

"Oh! She was all cool when we were in the Maze, but since we've gotten out and arrived here she's been hanging with some other boys, acting different and thinking she'd too cool for us." Luna scoffs, speaking up for the first time in a while.

So invested in their conversation, Leanne doesn't realize the boys from her Maze have arrived until Hally comes to sit with them. "So, Leanne, are those the boys from your Maze?" The blonde asks, nodding towards the table where they're sitting.

"Um, yeah, that's them." Leanne replies uncomfortably.

She watches Hally study the boys. "Who's the dark-haired one, in the blueish-grey shirt?" Leanne follows her eyes to Thomas.

"That's Thomas." Leanne says through gritted teeth.

"Oh, is he your boyfriend?" Hally exclaims loudly, earning the attention of the table of girls across from them.

"Well, no, but—" Juno cuts Leanne off before she can finish.

"Just leave her and her friends alone, Hal." The brunette shakes her head.

" _Whatever_." Hally smiles. "The Asian is just as good looking."

"Why don't you piss off." Reese rolls her eyes. "They're obviously not interested in getting in your pants." Luna snorts from beside Reese. "Besides, isn't snogging enough for you?"

Hally scrunches her face up. "No." She replies shortly, giggling. Around her, the group of girls smile, and some begin to laugh with her as well. Hally may come off intimidating, however there were some moments where she wasn't that bad.

Their loud laughing caught the attention of more than just the other girls' table. Many people were sparing glances towards them, curious or worried, including Thomas, Minho, Newt, Frypan, and the other boys around them. Both Newt and Minho felt small pangs of jealousy, thinking they were already being replaced. They were happy for Leanne, however, because she was making some girl friends. Thomas, on the other hand, felt a large pang of jealousy. There was something about Leanne that attracted him towards her. She made him curious —or more curious than he already is— and he couldn't help but feel like she'd replaced them.

Their laughter only stopped when Mr Janson came in, and cleared his throat with an amusing smile on his face, waiting for the girls to quiet down. "Good evening, gentlemen." His eyes return to Leanne and her new friends. "Ladies." He stops to stand in the front of the room. Speaking quickly, he begins. "You all know how this works. If you hear your name called... please rise in an orderly fashion, join my colleagues behind me... where they will escort you to the eastern wing. Your new lives are about to begin." Some people clap shortly, but stop when he looks down at his clipboard. "Connor. Evelyn..." As the names are called, Leanne zones out. This entire place was confusing to her. Janson did say this was just a stop along the way to their new homes, but she didn't know people were picked at random like that. It could mean she would for sure get separated from the boys, and now her new friends. Suddenly, a name is called, pulling her back into it. "Hally." The girls at the table gasp, turning to look at the blonde beside them.

Hally's face pales, but it's easy to see she's excited. "Bye, bitches." She jokes quietly, smiling towards the girls.

"Good luck." Leanne whispers to her.

"Good luck to you too." Hally replies, walking away from the table to stand up front.

"... And Abigail." They hear Mr Janson finish, earning 'aww's of sadness from people not called. "Now, now, don't get discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There's always tomorrow." Janson tells them encouragingly. He walks towards the doors to leave. "Your time will come. Go on, eat up."

Once he's gone, the girls sit in an awkward silence. "I'm gonna go see the boys."


	14. Danger Zone

**"I'M GONNA GO** see the boys." Leanne sighs, getting up with her tray. She moves down the table, past the other girls' table and to the boys' table. Setting her tray down on the table, she lowers herself to sit between Frypan and Newt. "Hello." She smiles. "I'm Leanne." She extends her hand out across the table for the unknown boys to shake.

Shaking it back, the first boy —who has tanner skin with cropped hair— replies. "Hi, Leanne. I'm Jonathan."

She moves to shake the darker skinned boy's hand. "Gus." He replies.

"Anyways," The brunette pulls her hand back to set it down in her lap. "Could you tell me what that was about?"

"Yeah, where are they going?" Minho asks.

"Far from here." Gus responds, turning around to face them again. "Lucky bastards." He shakes his head.

"Some kind of farm." Jonathan adds, shrugging. "A safe place." Leanne and Newt share a look, before turning their attention back to Jonathan. "They can only take in a couple of people at a time."

Thomas, obviously distracted, watches out the window in confusion. "What the hell?" Thomas gets up, and Leanne directs her attention towards where he's walking. Teresa is walking, along with on the other side of the glass. "Hey, Teresa?" Thomas says loudly.

"He's going to get himself into trouble." Leanne mumbles, shaking her head as she watches the scene unfold.

"Aren't you?" Minho asks, sliding closer to Newt and her.

"Yeah? Aren't you gonna wander the halls at night or something?" Frypan asks from her other side. "I always thought you were scary at night, walking in the dark. It's like you use it to find out everyone's secrets."

"Whatever, Fry." She scoffs.

"Neither of them are wrong, Lee." Newt chuckles. "I have no doubt in my mind you're going to do something crazy to uncover some secrets."

"Well, if this place wasn't so sketchy, I wouldn't feel the need to." The brunette points out. "Anyways, if they're who they say they are then it'll be fine."

"Urgh, why can't you just enjoy being out of the Maze?" Minho groans, and Thomas comes to settle back down between Minho and Newt.

"Because I don't feel like I'm really out of it." Leanne sighs, resting her chin in her hand, propped up by the table. "I feel like I was pulled out of the Maze just to be forced back into another one."

A throat clearing behind her catches the attention of the group. They turn to see Luna, Juno, Kiko and Reese standing behind them. "Hi." Thomas says to the group of girls. "I'm Thomas."

"Juno." She smiles. Leanne could tell the brunette was definitely friendly, and ready to make some new friends.

"I'm Newt." The girls are surprised by Newt's accent, but are good at hiding it. Juno pales a bit but Leanne brushes it off.

"I'm Reese." Similar to when Leanne first met Naomi, the boys are immediately surprised by her accent.

"Luna." The strawberry blonde squeaks quietly.

"Minho." He smirks at Juno, making her blush. Leanne kicks the boy in the shins under the table. 

"I'm Frypan." He says excitedly.

"And I'm Kiko." She waves.

After a little chitchat, mainly about the Mazes they came from, Reese turns to Leanne.

"We're heading back to the room, Leanne. I'll wait by the door for you so you don't get lost." Reese says, smiling. "Nice to meet you, boys."

"You too." Newt smiles politely.

Once the girls are out of earshot, Thomas turns to Leanne. "They're nice."

"Yeah." Frypan smiles.

"So... _Juno_." Minho grins.

"Do you have a crush on my new friend?" Leanne gasps, smiling.

"What? No!" He exclaims, earning eye rolls from the group.

"Anyways, I've gotta go. They're waiting for me." Leanne gestured to the door, where the Juno stands, waiting for her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Once returned to the room, Leanne slides into her lower bunk, and shuts her eyes. However, she's unable to sleep. Thoughts nag at her. What did Thomas mean by " _they're nice_ "? Does that mean he's interested in one of them, or being polite? The thought of Thomas with one of the girls made Leanne sick to her stomach, and kept her awake to the early hours of the morning.

•••

It was around two in the morning that Leanne gave up trying to fall asleep. Getting up from her bed, she walks towards the door. Placing her hand on the knob, she inhales. Do they lock the doors at night? Taking a chance, the brunette twists the knob, opening the door. She slips out, then closes it with a quiet click. The hallways were lit up like it was the middle of the day, however they were empty. No doctors or construction workers walked around, and it was eerily quiet. Aside from that, everything seemed normal.

The further she walked, the more suspicious the place became. There were a couple of times where she couldn't take a certain hallway because there were guards standing in front of a door.

She'd been walking for ten minutes when she heard the sound of wheels being pushed. She hides around the other corner, then peaks her head out to see the Doctor who took care of Teresa leading two people, each pushing a cart with what looks like a body under the sheet. At the end of the group, Kate follows them.

Realizing that Kate's at the end of the group, Leanne unwillingly lets out a small gasp. Kate immediately spins, and sees Leanne standing around the corner. Without saying anything, Kate gives her a pleading look, then gestures for her to go.

"McDonnell, everything alright?" Someone calls from the group, who's stopped down the hall.

"Yeah, yeah." Kate says, playing it off. "I thought I heard something but there's no one here." Sending her one last look, Kate leaves to follow the other doctors.

Once she hears the door close behind them, Leanne exhales a shaky breath. That was too close. But why was Kate helping her?

Ignoring her nagging thoughts, Leanne begins to try and find her way back to her bunk room. However, after turning many corners she finds herself lost. Without thinking, Leanne turns a corner quickly, running right into two guards. "Hey! What're you doing out?"

Without answering, Leanne spins on her heels, preparing to run. However, the men are faster than her. One man grabs ahold on her right arm, while the other struggles to get a hold on her left one. They tug back and forth as Leanne thrashes against them. The man trying to get a hold on her left arm turns to get a better grip, but instead barely misses her eye, hitting her left temple with his elbow.

"What's going on here!" Leanne hears a female's voice say loudly. The three turn to see Kate standing a few feet away from them. "Let her go." She demands.

The taller man, who is still holding on to the brunette's right arm, raises an eyebrow. "What was she doing out at night?"

Kate's lips press together to form a straight line. "This is my patient. She suffers from panic attacks. I told her if it ever happens she could come find me." Kate's lie comes out believable, and the man lets go of Leanne, letting her walk to stand beside Kate. "She must've gotten lost."

"Then why'd she try to run?" The second man asks, crossing his arms.

The doctor scoffs. "Well, you obviously scared her, especially considering this is a strange place for her." Kate gently places a hand on Leanne's back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have to take a look at her eye." Pushing the teen gently, the older woman leads Leanne through the hallways, not speaking. They only stop walking when they come face to face with a metal door. Kate scans her card, then the door opens.

The room Leanne walks into is fairly large. A double bed is pushed up against the wall in the back left corner. A table with two chairs is in the front left corner. A sink, and a dresser are against the wall to the wall on the right, and a bathroom stall sits in the back right corner. In the middle of the room was a large, empty space.

The door closes behind them, and Kate brings Leanne to sit on the edge of the bed. Kate crouches down to get a look at Leanne's temple, touching it lightly. "He hit you pretty hard."

"Why are you helping me?" Leanne frowns, making her temple hurt more.

Kate pulls her fingers away, then moves across the room to take her lab coat off. "You remind me of my daughter. Not really in the way you act, more in the way I feel the need to protect you." She hangs the white coat on the hook nailed into the wall.

"Where is she now?" Leanne asks without thinking. Kate doesn't answer, but it's enough of an answer for Leanne. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing you could've done." Kate shakes her head. "Actually, there's nothing anyone could have done... which is ironic considering I'm a doctor." Kate grabs a cup and fills it up with the tap water before handing it to Leanne. She stands up to accept it gratefully.

The brunette takes a sip of the water. "If you don't mind me asking... how old was she?"

"Three." Kate sighs, shaking her head. "You should get some sleep."

"Kate—" Leanne's cut off before she can finish.

"Your eye will be fine. Just a little bruising." She says quickly. Leanne opens her mouth to speak again, but Kate's faster. "You need your sleep, Leanne." Kate walks to the bed, pulling the sheets back and gesturing for her to get in.

Leanne gets into the bed and pulls the sheets up to her neck. "Where will you sleep?"

"I have to get back to work. But don't worry, no one can get in here but me." Kate smiles, pulling her lab coat back on. "I'll wake you up for breakfast."

•••

Sleep wasn't hard for Leanne to find after that. Considering it was well after three in the morning, she was tired. She wasn't waken up when Kate came back in around five am, or when Kate slid into bed beside her.

Leanne was woken up by Kate cooing her name softly. Groaning, she slowly peels her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Nearly lunch time. You got a good nine hours of sleep." Kate smiles, getting up to rummage through the dresser.

Leanne sits up in bed, grumbling. "Why didn't you wake me up for breakfast?"

Kate shrugs. "You seemed tired after what happened. I called your name twice this morning and you didn't hear me, so I let you sleep more." She tosses a blue pullover hoodie to Leanne. "Your friend, Minho, cornered me in the hall asking where you were. I told him you were feeling unwell and would most likely be there at lunch."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Leanne pulls the blue hoodie on, feeling comfortable in the oversized sweater, and gets up. "Can you walk me to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah, but before that..." Kate looks through the small top drawer of the dresser. "I want you to take this." She hands her a card. "This'll open up all doors for you, Leanne. If you need me, use it." Leanne nods. "But do _not_ let anyone else see or they'll take it away."

The teenager pushes the card down her shirt and into the side of her bra, making sure it won't fall out before following glancing at herself in the mirror. "Ew." Leanne says, seeing her own reflection. Her hair was crazy with baby hairs sticking out to the side, and her right temple and around her eye was bruised.

"Here." Kate turns Leanne to face her, and quickly runs her hands through her hair, brushing the knots out of the brunette's hair and flattening the baby hairs. "You look beautiful."

Leanne snorts. "Not with this eye."

"I'm sorry I can't do anything about that." Kate replies sarcastically.

The two women walk out into the hallway, and Kate leads Leanne to the cafeteria, teaching her how to get to the doctor's room if she needs to. Kate leaves Leanne at the cafeteria entrance, going back to work.

Leanne inhales, shoving her hands into the hoodie's pocket. Then, she walks into the cafeteria. Without drawing attention to herself, the teen goes to grab some food before making her way to the table where she can see Juno, Kiko, Luna and Reese sitting.

Juno is the first to see Leanne, and gets up to walk up to her. "Are you okay? What happened to your eye?"

"Hey, sorry I disappeared, I wasn't feeling well." Leanne smiles apologetically. "I'll explain later but I have to go see the boys."

"Leanne!" Juno calls, but she's already walking over to the guys.

Newt sees Leanne walking over first, and a worried look settles on his face. The other boys are soon to follow. Getting close, she sits between Frypan and Thomas. Across from her sit Minho, Winston, Newt and Tim. "Ooh, girl, what the hell happened to you?" Frypan explains, getting a look at her left temple when she turns her head.

Thomas, who is sitting on her left side, raises his hand and gently brushes his fingers over the bruising. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She shrugs, taking a bite from her sandwich.

"You don't look fine." Newt points out.

"Yeah!" Minho adds. "You didn't show up for breakfast, your eye is bruised and your wearing a random person's sweater." He looks around him before lowering his voice. " _Stop_ lying, Lea."

"You wanna know what happened?" Leanne asks. The boys around her nod. "So, first I couldn't sleep." She speaks quickly, barely taking breathes between her sentences. "I decided to look around, got lost, and wandered into some doctors pushing carts with what looked like bodies under sheets on them. But, when I see them, Kate —Doctor McDonell— sees me, but she tells me to leave. So, I do as she says and I leave, but of course now, I'm lost. And knowing my luck, I have to run into some security guards, and fight a little." She stops here to point up to her left eye. "Then, Kate comes along, and lies to help me get out of the situation. By now it's three in the morning and I'm tired. So she brings me to her room and checks my eye out. By then, I'm exhausted. So Kate leaves to go back to work, I sleep, and then she wakes me up and brings me here to lunch." Leanne lets out a dramatic sigh. "And that's the story of my night."

The boys sit in silence, unsure of how they're supposed to respond until Frypan speaks up. "That's wild."

"I know, right?" She shrugs. "Anyways, I'm starving." The brunette goes back to eating her sandwich as the boys sit there, watching her. "Stop watching me eat."

They turn they gazes away quickly, not wanting to fight with the grumpy girl.

"I saw them too." Thomas says to them. Intrigued, they all lean in to listen. Quickly and quietly, with very little detail, Thomas tells them what he saw.

•••

After heading back to their bunks for the afternoon and having to explain to the girls what happened, Leanne founds herself already back in the cafeteria for dinner. This time sitting with the group of girls, a light toned conversation settled in.

They were getting to know each other better. Leanne liked hanging with these girls; they didn't push her like the boys did, yet they knew what they wanted to know.

Juno asks Reese a question, however she doesn't answer. "Dans la lune?" Leanne asks her, receiving confused looks. "It's a French expression my mother used to say." She explains. "It pretty much means you're head is in the clouds."

"Oh, yeah." Reese smiles sheepishly. As she got to know them, Leanne began to realize quickly that Reese was ditsy. Not in a mean way, Leanne meant that she was always distracted, very scatterbrained.

"You speak French?" Kiko asks, interested.

"No, no." Leanne shakes her head shortly. "It was just an expression my mother learnt from a friend."

The girls quiet down when, like the other night, Mr Janson steps out to list names. Repeating what he did last night, he starts to call names. "Alice. Barry. Walt. Edgar. Samantha."

"I want to know where the kids go." Leanne mumbles to the girls around her.

"Aaron." Janson continues listing names.

"Don't be a fool." Luna mumbles. "If you try to go you'll get in trouble."

"Dennis. Henry. Tim."

"I don't care. I _need_ to know."

"And last but not least, David." Janson finishes up. "Thank you for your attention. Enjoy the rest of your evening." The doors open and the teens called begin to file out.

A movement to her left catches her eye, and Leanne turns her head to see Thomas getting up to walk to the door. "Oh no." She mumbles. The other girls turn to follow her gaze. Leanne watches closely as Thomas tries to walk through, but gets stopped by the guard. He tries to go again, but is stopped. After exchanging a couple words with the men, Thomas backs off, turning around to leave. Instead of leaving, Thomas turns back around to launch himself at the guard. "Shit." Leanne stands up quickly, beginning to make her way over to Thomas. She sees the other boys do the same.

"Lea!" Juno calls, getting up with her to try and stop her from going.

Leanne's the first to arrive beside Thomas. She grabs his arm, pulling him back. Minho arrives on his other side to take his other arm and pull him back. The boys yell at him to stop. "Control your friend!" One of the guard's yell.

Mr. Janson runs back into the room. "What's happening here?" He demands, coming to stand in front of the group. "Thomas?" He asks. No one answers him. "I thought we could trust each other. You know we're all on the same team here." He says, attempting to reassure them.

"Are we?" Thomas asks without hesitation.

Obviously annoyed, Janson presses his lips together in a thin line. Then, without turning to the guards, he says. "Get them to their bunks."


	15. The Great Escape

**QUICKLY, THEY GET** pushed down the hall towards the bunk rooms. One of the guards keeps grabbing onto Leanne's arm to pull her forward harshly. It's only then that she realizes it's the guard who elbowed her temple. "How's your eye, darling?" The man asks tauntingly.

"Let. Me. Go." Leanne growls lowly so the others won't hear. Ignoring her, the man tightens his grip on her arm. "Let me go!" She says loudly, getting the attention of Juno, who is walking ahead of her.

"Listen to her, man! You're hurting her!" She says, equally as loudly as Leanne.

Letting go of Leanne, the man goes to grab Juno's arm, making them stop in their tracks altogether. Then, taking her long brown hair into his hand, he pulls it back to tilt her head up to look at him. Up ahead, being pushed by a different guard, the boys are oblivious and continue on their way. "Look at me." The guard grumbles. Leanne tries to hit his back, but he doesn't stop. When Juno doesn't, he pulls her hair harder, earning a yelp. The brunette is forced to look up at him. "You don't get to talk back to me." He says menacingly. "Actually, you don't get to talk at all." He tugs at her ponytail harder.

Finding her courage, Juno looks the man dead in the eye. "Get your fucking hands off me!" She exclaims.

This time, the boys up ahead hear her. Quickly turning around to assess the scene, Minho's the first to duck around the other guard and run back. Hands and feet kick and punch the guard, making his grip on Juno's hair loosen enough for her to get away from him. Newt comes back to stop Minho when he doesn't, and Frypan and Thomas comes back to walk alongside the girls. Frypan introduces himself once again to Juno, and tries to keep her from doing anything irrational as they walk down the hall together.

In the back of the group, Minho and Newt get pushed by the guards to keep moving. Leanne looks back at them, and Thomas sees the look of guilt in her eyes. He raises his arm to drape it over her shoulders, forcing her to look forward. They walk like this in silence until they reach the door of the boys bunk room. Then, when they hear the clank of boots walking up to unlock the door, Thomas pulls the small girl into his side, keeping her far away from the guard. Once the guard opens the door, they all get pushed in.

"This isn't even my bunk room!" Juno slams her hand against the door as they close it. She turns around to see everyone at watching Thomas.

Although comfortable, Leanne slips out of his grasp so she can also stare him down.

"What the hell was that about?" Minho asks immediately.

"You didn't really think they were just gonna let you through?" Newt adds.

Thomas shakes his head. "Nah, of course I didn't." Then, he pulls out a card, identical to the one Leanne has stuffed down her bra. A round of exasperated sighs are heard throughout the room. "I'm gonna find out what's on the other side of that door."

"Well fuck me, Thomas!" Lea exclaims, earning the attention of everyone as she pulls the card Kate gave her from her shirt. "You could've just asked me." Dumbfound faces stare at her, either amazed of confused as to how she got her hands on the card.

"Right." Newt mumbles, rolling his eyes dramatically towards Thomas.

"Newt, they're hiding something. Okay?" Thomas defends himself. "These people are not who they say they are."

"No, Thomas, you don't know that!" Newt exclaims. Thomas walks further into the room, and the group follows. "The only thing that we do know is that they helped rescue us from WICKED." Newt's voice gets louder as he speaks. "They gave us new clothes. They gave us food. They gave us a proper bed." He stops, then lowers his voice. "Some of us haven't had that in a long time."

Not knowing what to respond, Thomas starts slowly. "Yeah, but..."

Before he can continue, Leanne raises her hand to make him stop. "Can you all shut the hell up for just a minute!" She sighs. "You're giving me a migraine." She gently rubs her left temple where her bruises are. "Listen, I'll be honest and say I'm conflicted." Juno watches Leanne curiously from the back of the group. "First of all, I've been in the Maze for three years. They give us beds, food, clothes, _showers_ , and it's nice. For once I'm not surrounded by stinky guys." She shakes her head, dropping her hand to her side. "But Newt, I saw what Thomas saw." Newt opens his mouth to speak but Leanne doesn't let him, and continues speaking instead. "They were hiding something. And I want to know who these people are, what they're doing and why they're doing it." As Leanne finishes, the grid from the air vent comes flying out from under a bunk.

"Hey, Thomas." A blond boy says, crawling out from under the bed.

"What the hell?" Frypan mumbles as he shakes his head, clearly done with all the shit doing on.

"Who is this kid?" Winston frowns, making eye contact with Leanne, who shrugs.

"You got it, didn't you?" The boy asks.

"Yeah. Let's go." Thomas gets down to crawl under the bed, but stops before he leaves. "All right, look, maybe you guys are right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But I got to find out for sure. Just cover for me." He nods. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He lowers himself to crawl.

"Hey, Thomas?" Leane says, stopping him from leaving. "If you get caught, we're gonna have to save you, and then I'm gonna kill you."

A scared looks flashes in his eyes before he nods, then leaves.

"What an idiot." Leanne sighs, dropping down onto the nearest bunk.

Newt turns to the new brunette in the room. "Juno, right?" She nods. "Sorry you had to be pulled into this mess." Newt smiles apologetically.

"You can all call me June." She says, eyes roaming the room before they land on Newt. "And it's okay. My life was getting a little boring."

"Boring is good." Minho points out. "It means no drama."

"Yeah, well after living in a Maze for six years, you get used to drama." She shrugs, sitting down beside Leanne on the bunk.

"You were in your Maze for six years?" Winston's eyebrows raise to his hairline. Juno nods, fixing her ponytail. "I don't know if I could survive six years with Frypan's cooking." Winston says.

"Hey! You better be grateful!" Frypan exclaims as Newt shakes his head, chuckling with Minho. "My food kept you alive."

"Yeah, yeah." Leanne laughs. "Let's not scare June away." She smiles. "With Teresa gone right now, I need her around."

•••

The wait for Thomas to come back wasn't too long; fifteen minutes at the most.

Newt paced the room nervously, while Minho sat perched on the end of a bunk bed. Both Leanne and Juno were laying on a bed side by side, squished but too nervous, or too tired to move. The other boys either sat at the table or laid in their bunks.

Everything was quiet when the air vent grid flew out from under the bed once again. This startles Juno, and makes her jump, pushing Leanne off the bed accidentally.

"Thomas!" Minho exclaims, surprises.

Juno gets up from the bed. "Sorry." She mumbles Leanne.

"We gotta go. We gotta go right now." Thomas says, hastily grabbing onto Leanne's hands and pulling her up off the ground.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Minho asks loudly.

"What do you mean, "We gotta go?"" Newt asks over Minho. Everyone asks questions over one another, confused by Thomas.

Thomas runs towards the door quickly, then turns back around to face them. "They're coming. Come on. We gotta go." He pulls a sheet off a bunk. "They're coming for us." Then, he begins to tie a knot around the handle to keep the door shut. "Paige. She's still alive." Thomas says

"Ava?" Leanne questions, and Thomas turns to nod to her.

"Who's she?" Newt asks, confused by his two friends.

"Ava." Thomas repeats, out of breath.

"Ava?" Frypan raises his eyebrow.

"The big boss at WICKED."

"Will you just turn around and talk to us?" Newt says calmly but loudly.

"It's WICKED!" He yells, turning to face them. "It's still WICKED. It's always been WICKED." Thomas says quickly. He then grab a mattress of the bunk frame and pushes it up against the door.

"Thomas." Newt walks up to stand beside Thomas. Then, he calmly speaks. "What did you see?"

"Other people from Mazes, hanging up with tubes attached to them." He speaks quickly, moving to the bunk where the vent is. "After we're called, we don't leave." Then, he waves them over. "We gotta go quickly, come on." With Thomas leading the way, the teens get into the vent quickly.

Leanne gets in, followed by Juno, Minho, then Aris at the back of the group.

"You better not be staring at my ass." Juno mumbles to Minho behind her.

"There's nowhere else to look." Minho chuckles, trying to lighten the mood in the vent.

"Minho?" Leanne whispers from ahead of them.

"Yeah?"

"Stop flirting with my friend."

Finally out of the vents, Leanne's happy to finally stand. "Ugh, I hate small spaces." She mumbles to herself.

"Come on, come on." Thomas helps them stand. "Okay, let's go." He says when everyone's out.

"You guys go ahead. There's something I gotta do." Aris tells them.

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asks.

"Trust me, it's important." Aris responds shortly, not giving anymore information than that. "You guys wanna get outta here, right? Just go."

"I'll go with him." Winston says.

"Okay, Winston, go! Go!" Thomas says. Quickly, the two climb back into the vents. "Come on." He says to the rest of the group.

"You sure we can trust this kid?" Minho asks as they begin to run.

"You don't want to know where we'd be without him." Thomas responds.

When they turn the corner, they run right into Kate, who seems surprised to see them. "What are you kids doing out?" Just as she asks this, the alarm system turns on.

"Kate," Leanne pushes her way to the front of the group. "We're leaving."

An understanding look flashed in Kate's eyes. "Is there any way I can help you?"

The others watch warily, but Leanne ignores them. "We need to find our friend, Teresa."

The doctor nods. "I know where they're keeping her!" She begins to walk down the hall. "Follow me!" She calls out.

Leanne's the first to start walking with Kate. The others follow hesitantly.

Juno walks up to walk alongside the two women. "Why are you helping us?" She asks for the group.

Turning a corner, Kate looks back at the teens. "The only reason I came to work here was to help kids." She shakes her head. "I didn't know we'd be experimenting on them. _Using_ them."

Kate runs ahead of the group, then turns a corner. "Freeze! Stay where you are!" A guard yells from the end of the hall.

Kate lets out a yelp then turns the group around.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Frypan yells. "They shouldn't be shooting at us." Leanne slows to down to grab onto Frypan's hand reassuringly.

Before turning the corner, Leanne looks over her shoulder to see Minho slowing down, and turning to face the way they're running from.

"Minho!" She calls out, making the others realize he's stopped.

"What the hell are you doing?" Thomas yells. Minho begins to run, then launches himself at the guard as he turns the corner. The guard hits the wall, then falls to the group.

They group runs back to Minho, looking down at the guard. "Well _fuck_." Juno exhales. "That was hot."

A blush spreads across Minho's cheeks, and Leanne smiles. That's the first time she's seen someone make Minho blush. The boys share an incredulous look.

As Thomas grabs the gun from the unconscious guard, Kate ushers them forward. "Okay. Let's go. Come on. Let's go."

The group runs down the hall, finally reaching a door where Kate stops in front of. With her key card, she unlocks it. "Act like you're forcing me to do this." She mumbles before pushing the door open a bit.

"Dr. McDonnell, are you here to..." He stops when Leanne pushes Kate into the room. "Wait, wait. Okay, okay." The other doctor says, backing into the room.

"Where is she?" Thomas asks loudly.

While Thomas has the gun pointed at them, Leanne walks over to the curtain in the room and pulls it open, revealing Teresa laying on a bed.

Thomas hands the gun to Minho and runs to Teresa. "Get over there! Get down!" Minho yells at the doctors. Leanne walks over and grabs a roll of bandage.

"Get down and give me your hands!" She says to them. The doctors stick their hands out and Newt and her tie them together quickly. "Just do what I say and no one will get hurt." She speaks calmly and clearly. "Give me your hands." She says to Kate. "I'm sorry." She whispers to her, barely loud enough for Kate to hear.

"Guys? They're coming! Where do we go?" Frypans yells, standing by the door and watching the hallway.

"Frypan! Move!" Newt yells, flipping a table over to push it against the door. "Get back! Get back!" He says, ushering them away from the door.

"Okay, we gotta get outta here!" Leanne yells to them.

"Everyone stand back!" Thomas says. He grabs a stool from beside the bed and hits the glass. "Come on! Newt! Help, help!" With both of them holding onto stools, they break the glass.

"Ready? Go, go, go!"

Teresa covers the sharp edge with a blanket, and Thomas jumps over. He helps her over, picking her up so she won't cut her feet.

Newt jumps over, sticking his hands out to help the next person over. Juno's quick to take his hands, swinging her legs over the ledge. Leanne copies her gesture with Newt's help as well.

Minho passes the gun to Thomas, and Thomas walks over to the door quickly. "Stay behind me!" He tells them, opening it. The group is about to go when Thomas stops, faced by a large guard. Without hesitation, Thomas shoots the guard, electrocuting him. "Shit." He mumbles. Then, coming to his senses, he starts to move forward. "Okay, come on!"

They begin to run down the hall quickly, passed the guard on the ground and around a corner. "I hate running." Juno breathes out from beside Leanne.

At the end of the hall is a closed door. Thomas gets there first, and uses the card he has to try and unlock it. The screen turns red, denying him access. "Shit." He mumbles, continuing to try. "Come on! No, no, no!"

Leanne searches her pockets for her keycard, but doesn't find it. "I don't have my keycard." She mumbles. "It must've fallen out."

"Thomas!" Leanne hears Janson call. They turn to see the older man walking down the hall towards them, surrounded by guards.

Thomas raises the gun, walking down the hall towards Janson. "Open this door, Janson!" He yells at him, loading the gun.

"You really don't want me to." Janson shakes his head, raising his hands.

"Open the damn door!"

"Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life." He says to them. "The maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day... out in the Scorch." Janson and the guards continue to walk forward. "If the elements don't kill you, the Cranks will." Similar to them, Thomas continues to walk forwards too. "Thomas, you have to believe me. I only want what's best for you."

"Yeah, let me guess. WICKED is good?"

Janson lets his hands fall to his side. "You're not getting through that door, Thomas." As Janson says this, the screen turns green and the door mechanisms begin to make noise. Behind them, the door opens with Aris and Winston on the other side.

"Hey, guys." Aris says to them.

"Come on!" Winston waves his hand for them to move forward.

"Thomas! Come on! Let's go!" Newt calls out to him.

Thomas shoots at Janson a couple times, missing, before the gun runs out. Then, he throws the gun at him and begins to run towards them. Just as he does this, the door begins to close.

A weird feeling sets upon Leanne as she feels déjà vue. Thomas running towards a closing door reminds her of when he ran into the Maze for Minho and Alby. Only this time he isn't running in, he's running out. 

Lucky for him, Thomas slides just in time to make it. "Damn, have you ever played baseball?" Leanne asks sarcastically, getting weird glances from the others.

"Move! Move!" Minho helps Thomas up. Aris moves to break the pad that controls the door.

"Thomas, what's going on?" Teresa asks, still confused.

"Come on." Newt says, beginning to run with the others.

Leanne watches Thomas raise his middle finger to Janson. Leanne chuckles, grabbing Thomas' arm. "Okay, let's go."

They run through the hall, and out into the large room they first saw when they arrived. Just as many crates sat around the dimly lit room.

Arriving at the large doors, Thomas pulls a lever, making the door shift open.

Immediately, they see sand blown around. Without hesitation, Juno's the first to start jogging out. "Come on! We can't just stand here."

Snapping back to reality, the others follow the brunette out the building.

They quickly run down the large cement pad and find themselves climbing up a large mound of sand. Leanne glances over her shoulder to see men on four wheelers with lights, coming out to look for them.

The teens don't stop until they're far out, where they drop to the ground to lay low. They continue to watch the people search for them. Once they get closer, the group continues to stay low, yet moves further out.

The girls run in the front of the group. Teresa looks confused and scared, so Leanne reaches over to grab her hand, squeezing it comfortingly as they run through the storm, reaching a building. "Some shelter?" Leanne says. Teresa shrugs, going in. The boys yell at her to stay with them, but Juno and Leanne ignore them and follow Teresa in.


	16. The Scorch

**THE BUILDING IS** dark. Sand has piled into the building, and it smells of something rotting. Outside, boys give in and run down the sand hill into the building to stand next to the girls.

With his flashlight, Minho looks around at the room around them. It looks big, with piles of rubble laying around. "Where the hell are we?"

"A mall, it looks like." Leanne exhales, memories of going shopping with her mother and sister coming back to her. Minho frowns at her, not understanding. "A place where people would go shopping, to get clothes, and other objects."

"We gotta go." Thomas breathes heavily.

Teresa's hand shakes in Leanne's. "Thomas, stop." She says sternly.

He turns to look at her. "We gotta keep moving."

"Teresa deserves an explanation about what's going on."

"It's WICKED." He says calmly. "It's WICKED. They lied to us... We never escaped." Teresa's hand slips out of Leanne's. "Me and Aris, we found bodies. Too many to count."

"What do you mean?" Minho asks, more confused by the newfound information. "Dead bodies?"

"No, but they weren't alive either." He looks down. "They had them strung up. With tubes coming out of them. They were being... they were being drained." Juno's face pales. Noticing this, Leanne makes a mental note to talk to her later. "There's something inside of us that WICKED wants. Something in our blood. So we have to get as far away from them as possible."

"Okay. So, what's the plan?" Newt says, seemingly the only person thinking strait. "You do have a plan, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know."

"Well, we followed you out here, Thomas... and now you're saying that you have no idea where we're going... or what we're doing." Newt exclaims.

"Wait. Janson said something about people hiding in the mountains." Aris says slowly. "Some kind of resistance or army."

"The Right Arm." Thomas confirms. "The Right Arm. If they're really against WICKED, maybe they can help us."

"People. In the mountains. Mountain people. That's your plan?" Newt questions, unconvinced.

"It's the only chance we have."

"Hey, guys." Winston calls out before Thomas can elaborate. "Check this out." They turn to see his silhouette crouched close to the ground. "Minho, give me a light!"

They walk over and Minho lights it up, showing footprints.

"Someone's been down here." Minho concludes.

With Minho walking in the front with a flashlight, the group follows the footsteps until they reach a glass garage door.

"Come on. Open up." Minho says after having looked in through the glass. The people in the front raise the door enough for them to get in.

Finding other flashlights, they look around the room. Leanne spots piles of clothing put together to make beds, and children's toys.

"Looks like people lived here." Frypan points out.

"Where are they now?" Newt questions suspiciously.

"Let's pack some of this stuff up." Thomas says, pulling a jacket on. "Anything you think you might need. We'll split up, see what else we can find." People nod throughout the group. "Meet back here."

Leanne rummages through the clothes alongside Juno. She finds a black fitted t-shirt, and trades her white one for it, glancing over at the guys while changing. "Hey, Fry! Keep your eyes over there." Then, she pulls a khaki green jacket on top.

She turns around to see June, who's traded her jeans and red long-sleeve for green trousers, similar to the colour of Leanne's jacket, and a beige t-shirt with a navy blue jacket.

"Grab a bag, let's go look around." Leanne nods. They two pick up backpacks and head out of the room, in the opposite direction Minho and Thomas had headed. "You okay?" The brunette asks.

Her new friend shrugs. "Yeah."

"No, I just mean cause earlier, when Thomas was telling us about the... bodies, you didn't look too good."

Juno scoffs, picking up a blanket and rolling it up to put in her bag. "Lea, the girls in that bunk room we shared were the last girls from my maze. That means that all of the other ones were _called_ , and either brought to that place or somewhere far worse." Juno zips up her bag. "And I just left the last of the only people I knew for six years back there. I just left them."

Leanne gulps, and continues to look for supplies. Then, out of luck, she comes across a first aid kit. Excitedly, she opens it to find it filled with multiple types of bandages, scissors, a needle and thread, and alcohol swabs. Stuffing it into her bag, the two continue to look for stuff.

She sees Juno pick up a beautiful necklace off a chair, and then turns to see a picture frame. Three young boys and a little girl stand side by side, smiling brightly. Hoping to find a name, or date —out of curiosity— Leanne flips the frame to see but instead finds a large patch of dried blood. Startled, she drops the frame and backs up from the now broken glass. "You good?" Juno asks, standing a couple meters away.

"Yeah..." She breathes.

Then, to Leanne's surprise, the lights turn on. Trying to calm herself down, Leanne turns around to look for Juno, but instead turns to see a different person. This man —if that's what it really was— looked dead. It was as simple as that. A crazy look flashed in his eyes as Leanne took in his pale skin and bloody face. Although the wild look stayed in his eyes, he looked completely calm. It was when Leanne took a step back, bumping into the table beside her and bringing attention to the broken picture frame that the man's personality switched like a light.

The man lunges for her suddenly and she lets out a loud scream, grabbing a lamp off the table to hit the person across the head with it.

Running towards Juno, both girls grab onto each other and begin to run in the direction of the others.

Juno lets out a scream when they run into someone. "It's just me." Minho says, grabbing onto June to push her forwards.

Thomas grabs onto Leanne's arm, pulling her as they run quickly. However, as the adrenaline pumps through her blood, she finds herself running faster than Thomas and instead dragging him along.

At the end of the hall they just turned down, the rest of the group stands, very confused.

Glancing behind her, Lea sees the cranks turn the corner they just turned. The four teens running yell for the others to start running as well.

The group stats to run as the others get closer. Running down the hall, they run up the escalators facing them.

"Guys, what the hell are those things?" Winston yells.

"I don't know. Just keep going!" Thomas yells.

Once they've reached the top, they turn left to run further away. "It's the cranks Janson was warning us about." Lea yells as she runs beside June.

They're stopped in their tracks when they come along a crank in their way. Aris runs towards it, hitting it in the legs and making it fall to the ground even closer to them.

Whilst Teresa and Thomas are forced to go up the next escalator, the others can't. "Go around!" Thomas yells to them.

The others look around quickly. "This way!" Juno yells, leading them towards the stairs at the other end of the hall. She glances over her shoulder to see Newt lagging behind. "Newt, come on!"

He turns around and starts to run faster with them. In the run, Leanne picks up a metal bar, using it to hit cranks that come in their way. Finally regrouping with Teresa and Thomas upstairs, they're stressed with finding a way out. They yell back and forth to try and figure something out. 

A loud bang and a yell causes the group to slow and turn around. "Newt!" A crank had jumped onto him and was now on top of him. Juno being the closest to him swings her leg forward, kicking the crank hard and sending him through the glass and off the edge to the next floor down. "Thanks, June." Newt says loudly as she pulls him up to run with her.

They run further down the large room, then turn down a skinny cement hallway. "Guys, where are we going?" Leanne hears someone yell, yet she's unaware who because of the howls of the cranks in the building.

"Somewhere far from them!" She responds. Thomas stops to try to open a door, but it doesn't budge. The cranks get closer and closer, and the yells of the teens get louder as they tell their friends to keep running.

From the back of the group, Leanne hears Minho yell. "It's a dead end!" Someone tries to open it, but once again they have no luck with opening the door.

"I'll hold them back!" To give them more time, Winston steps behind in front of Leanne to block her view of the cranks and begins to shoot them.

The boys continue to try and ram the door open, and finally Frypan manages to get it open. "It's open!" Quickly, the group runs in.

Winston runs in last, and gets tripped by the cranks. They start to pull him backwards, but Winston's quick to grab onto the door. Some try to keep the cranks out while others try to pull Winston away from them. While attempting to pull him away, Leanne watched as the cranks tear at the skin on Winston's stomach.

Frypan and Lea manage to pull Winston up, and help him stand. Listening to Thomas and Minho, Frypan and Leanne start to run with Winston.

As they get further, Minho comes to join them to help Winston run.

Moving quickly, they find the others who bring them to the bottom of the large pile of rubble. An alcove big enough for them to all hide in was there. With her knees pulled up to her chest, Leanne closes her eyes nervously and listens to the cranks move further up in the rubble. With his side pressed up against Leanne's, Thomas feels the small girl shaking. He reaches over to grasp onto her hand gently, and holds it into his own. She leans into him more, speaking comfort.

Being so quiet Leanne can barely hear him, Thomas whispers into her ear. "It's going to be okay. Don't worry. I'm going to keep you safe."

•••

Waking up in the morning after a long night was something Leanne wasn't excited for. When her eyes finally peeled open the next morning, she found herself laying in someone's arms.

Turning only her head not to wake the person up, she sees Thomas' peaceful face. Little did she know he was already awake, just laying there enjoying the quiet time before they started to move. For the first couple minutes, Leanne doesn't move. She didn't want to wake him up, and she certainly was comfortable.

Eyes widening when she hears someone sitting up, Leanne slowly rolls out of his arms and into rocks. Standing up quietly and brushing the rocks off, she pushes her hair out of her face and quietly walk over her friends' limbs to go check on Winston.

When she makes it to his side, she sees his eyes closed and his brows pushed together in pain.

"You and Tommy looked cosy over there." Newt says quietly, smirking. She glares at him. "Am I wrong, Lea?"

"Piss off, Newt."

Without waking Winston up, she slowly pushes the bandage up to get a look at it. Visible marks are seen where the cranks had impaled him with their fingers while trying to pull him away.

Leanne pulls her eyes away from the wound and pushes the bandage back down. Then, she backs away from the injured boy.

Standing up straight to crack her back, she looks over the rocks to see if there's any cranks.

Slowly, her peers begin to wake up. A crow pecks at a backpack, trying to take food. Thomas gets up, shooing the bird away. He looks over at Leanne, but she quickly looks away.

"Are they gone?" Newt asks after Thomas looks for cranks, just as Leane had done.

"Yeah, I think we're safe for now." He responds, bending over to pick his bag up. "Okay, we should get moving. Let's pack it up." He looks at the others to stand up. "Aris, come on. Fry, Winston. Let's go." Thomas turns to Juno, who hasn't even bothered to open her eyes, let alone stand up. "June, come on."

Winston tries to stand, but groans out in pain. "Hey, man." Frypan offers his hand out to help Winston up. "You okay?"

Slowly but surely, the group climbs up the rubble to leave the broken building. Once they reach the top, and manage to get a view at the city, they're shocked. The buildings are crumbling and plants grow on them. They look like they've been empty for years. The roads are filled with sand, rubble and trash. Cars are lined up on the roads, like they'd been left in a traffic jam.

The further they walked, the more the group saw the destruction.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan asks while they walk down the middle of the street.

"I don't know. It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time." Newt responds.

"I hope the whole world's not like this." Aris says.

Leanne keeps her mouth shut, not wanting to tell the group that the world was indeed like this.

"Hang on, stop." Thomas says, making the group stop and quiet down. "Do you hear that?" They look up onto the sky, and the noise gets closer. "Get down! Everybody, hide! Hide! Hide!" They look around for a spot to hide, and quickly settle on a large fallen slab of cement. They all shuffle underneath on their knees, sitting lowly to fit.

They watch from underneath as two helicopters and a berg overhead of them, searching.

Leanne looks over at Teresa and grimaces at the girl when they make eye contact.

"Oh shit." Leanne hears Juno mumbles, who's on the other side of the cement separating the group.

"They're never gonna stop looking for us, are they?" Minho asks, turning to Leanne.

Once they're further out, the group gets out from underneath the cement and decides it's best if they keep moving.

The further they move, the more difficult it is. Piles of rubble block their path, and they find themselves having to climb them.

"Everyone good?" Thomas asks from the front of the group.

"Yeah." Winston mumbles, clutching his stomach. Leanne notices how he sways side to side.

As the group continues, Winston stops for a second. "Do you need to sit down?" Lea stops beside him.

Winston, unable to speak, nods. Holding his elbows, she helps him sit down on a pile of rocks.

"Hey, guys! We need a little break." Leanne calls out, sitting beside Winston.

"We need to keep moving." Thomas responds, stopping with the rest of the group to look down at the two seated teens.

"No, we need to stop pushing each other to the point where we can barely walk." She responds in a snarky tone.

"Thomas, let's just take a break." Juno sides with Leanne, huffing. "Not everyone's in great shape, you know." Juno grabs onto Minho's arm to keep herself stable from toppling over. Her cheeks are pink and her breathing is heavy.

"We have to get far away from those people." Thomas argues.

"Just five minutes, Thomas." Minho says, helping Juno move to a rock on which she can sit. Thomas gives in, and the teens sit on rocks for a break.

"Are you okay?" Minho asks Juno, who's laying down.

"Yeah... yeah." She responds, waving her hand for him to not worry. "I just need a minute to breath."


	17. Dear Winston

**WHEN THEY FINALLY** began walking again, it was not easy. Once they made it out of the rubble, they headed for the mounds of sand.

The first dune was steep, but Leanne knew it would not get easier.

"A little further, guys." Thomas says encouragingly as they climb up the side of the dune, close to the top.

Finally, they reach the top. On the other side, there's more buildings that are destroyed, and in the far distance, mountains.

"Those mountains, that's gotta be it." Thomas points to them. "That's where we're going."

"That's a long way off." Newt sighs.

"Then we better get moving."

Beside Leanne, Winston takes his bag off. When he goes to walk down the hill, he falls down onto his side.

"Winston!" She exclaims before he even hits the ground. Quickly, she dives onto her knees beside him. Beginning to unzip his sweater, she peels up his shirt to get a look at his wound beneath his bandages. "He's hurt pretty bad." She tells the others as they watch Winston struggle to breath.

"What do we do?"

"Shit." Thomas mumbles, standing up to look out.

Leanne scoots down to make more room for Newt, who tries to speak to Winston. "Winston, can you hear me?" He asks.

With supplies found around, the teens make a gurney to transport Winston. The teens take turns pulling the injured boy.

The more they walked, the more they passed. A large bridge, little houses, tall buildings, there was everything. However, the more they walked, the more the weather changed and the wind picked up. Doing so, the sand picks up with the wind and hits them in their faces.

They walk with their hoods up or scarves and neck warmers pulled up to protect their faces.

Both Juno and Leanne had been lucky enough to grab scarves, and used them to shield their faces from the whipping sand.

"Gotta find shelter!"

It did not take them long to find what they wanted. Once they were seated and shielded from the sand.

The stayed there, and watched as the wind died down and the sand stayed on the ground.

"How's he doing?" Thomas comes to sit beside her.

From his wounds Lea could tell what was going to happen, although she didn't want to admit it. "He's... he probably won't..." Leanne shuts her mouth, refusing to finish her sentence.

"Everything's going to be fine. _Everyone_ is going to be fine." He says, trying to reassure both himself and Leanne.

"You don't have medical experience like me, Thomas. I may not have studied medical practices or anything but after my time in the Maze," Leanne lowers her voice so just Thomas hears her. "I can tell when an injury is fatal."

"You're right, I know nothing about doctor stuff." He nods. "But I have hope he'll make it. Winston's strong."

"I hope I'm wrong too, Thomas." She presses her lips together in a thin line. "I really do."

"Yeah, well being right is something you're used to, isn't it?" He asks, standing up to go talk to Teresa who's looking out at the mountains.

Lea sits there, shocked at the words of the boy. Shaking her head, she gets up and walks out in the other direction.

"How's it looking?" She hears Newt ask Thomas from behind her.

"It's a little further." Thomas responds.

Leanne walks further away from the shelter. "Hey, Lea wait!" She hears Newt call out. Turning around, she sees him jogging to catch up to her. "Hi."

"Hello." Once she feels she's far enough from the shelter, she sits down in the sand.

They sit together in silence until Newt turns to face her. "In the Glade, did you love Gally?"

Leanne's taken aback by the random question. "I don't know." She shrugs.

"Don't know what love feels like?"

"I can't say I don't. I love you, I love Frypan, I love Minho and Winston. Heck, I love Teresa and Juno and it's not like I've known them that long."

"I love you too, Lea." His arm snakes around her shoulders to pull her into his side, hugging her tightly.

"I'm too over emotional." She mumbles. "It's a flaw of mine."

"I don't think it's a flaw." Newt shakes his head. "I think it's a beautiful trait of yours." Leanne pulls away to frown up at the boy. "You're able to express yourself. Sometimes, a little aggressively, but you do." Newt smiles.

"You say it's good until I kill someone." She scoffs. "Either way, I think that's one of your wonderful traits. Whilst I'm a bitch, you're able to be friendly to even the meanest of people."

Newt laughs. "That's why we're friends."

Leanne laughs along with Newt, showing him away playfully, but she quickly becomes serious again. "Do you still miss her?" She watches his face for any sign of emotion.

He sends a sad smile. "Sometimes. But I'm getting better at it."

"At what, Newt?"

He looks away from her, towards where their friends are. "Being without her."

There was a long silence before Newt looks back at Leanne. "We should head back." He stands and offers his hand to her. She takes it and he pulls her up.

They walk back to the shelter. There, they find Winston sleeping in his spot. Juno plays with the sand at her feet, Minho and Frypan are talking and Aris is sitting with his eyes closed.

She's about to sit down beside Minho when out of the corner of her eye she sees Winston go to grab the gun. "Winston!" She yells. She lunges for the gun as well, and in the scramble the gun is fired towards the sand. Newt yells for Thomas and Teresa to come back. "Give me the gun, Winston." She yanks the gun from his hands and he drops to the ground. Then, Leanne gives the gun to Frypan.

"What happened?" Thomas asks.

"I don't know. He just woke up and grabbed the gun and then he tried to..."

"Winston, are you okay?" Thomas bends over to help Winston when he throws up a dark red liquor. His _blood_.

Winston lays on his back and the others approach. "It's growing... inside me." He says as he lifts his shirt and the bandage to show his wound. "I'm not gonna make it." He says quietly.

Leanne drops to her knees beside him. "No, no. We're not losing you. We're gonna find a nice place, and I'm gonna fix you up, and—" Winston interrupts her.

" _Please_ , Lee. I don't wanna turn into one of those things"

Frypan looks down at the gun in his hands. After a minute of contemplation, Newt steps up and takes the gun from Fry gently.

"Wait, Newt..." Thomas says as Newt approaches Winston, but Newt doesn't stop. He only stops when he's standing beside Winston. Newt crouches down and places the gun in Winston's hand on his chest.

"Thank you." Winston swallows. "Now, get outta here."

"Good-bye, Winston." Newt gets up and walks off to grab his bag slowly.

"I'm so, so sorry." Leanne's tears fall down her cheeks.

"It's okay, Lea." Winston nods. "It's okay."

Minho comes forward to smile sadly down to his injured friend, then takes Leanne's hands and pulls her up. With Minho directing her, she grabs her bag. She nods to Minho, who starts to walk alongside Teresa to catch up with the others.

"I guess you were right about me, Thomas." Leanne mumbles for him only to hear. "I am used to being right, huh?"

Leaving Thomas with Winston, she starts to walk away. Her tears didn't stop flowing, and they only started falling harder when a gunshot was heard and the entire group stopped walking. Her crying was quiet with her hand covering her mouth. The only person behind her was Thomas, and she could hear him coming to stand beside her. Instead of staying there, she moves quickly to walk beside Minho.

She wasn't ready to face her past, yet she was even less ready to face what was coming.

•••

That night they group was lucky enough to find shelter and get a fire going.

Leanne was sitting up with Juno laying beside her. On her other side sat Frypan.

"I thought we were supposed to be immune." Minho starts.

"Not all of us, I guess." Teresa says.

"If Winston can get infected... we should assume so can the rest of us." Newt adds.

"I never thought I'd say it... I miss the Glade." Frypan says with a tear running down his face.

Leanne missed it too. She missed the birds chirping, the sound of boys laughing. She missed the people they had left behind and the people they lost.

The longer the group walked, the more tired you could tell people were getting. The sun was hot on their skin. Juno has been lucky to find a baseball cap and was using it to shield her eyes from the sun. It was good she found one because she was so pale she'd burn in a second.

The further they walked, the thirstier they got. Slowly but surely, they ran out of supplies. Water and food were scarce.

The terrain on their way to the mountains was flat. Rocks covered with a layer of sand was what they found themselves walking on.

Leanne's bones ached. Her feet hurt from walking, and hurt from the shoes she wore. During the day, not many people talked. They walked separate from each other and kept quiet. From time to time, little conversations would start up between some people but they would quickly die down.

"In your Maze, what did you do?" Leanne asks Juno. Both girls walk at the back of the group.

"I was pretty much a teacher." June shrugs. "You see, the kids arriving in my Maze were young. I taught kids the rules of our Maze, how to read and write, and once they reached the age of ten, I placed them into their work section."

"You got a lot of young kids?" Teresa asks from up ahead of them. It seems their conversation caught the attention of the rest of group, who are interested in learning about other mazes.

"Yeah." Juno nods. "The youngest girl we got was Mia. She was only five when she arrived." The others are shocked that WICKED would send such a young child into a maze. "Originally, I was supposed to just work in the gardens. But that wasn't any fun and we got lots of young kids that didn't know much about anything." She grimaces. "We were fifty-eight in my Maze, and more than half of us were ten years old or under."

"Less people working than there were in your Maze." Aris points out.

Juno shrugs. "The little kids would help out when they weren't being taught. It was after ten that they would go work full time instead of being taught." The brunette smiles. "My Maze was beautiful." The others are surprised when Juno says this. "It was tropical. Palm trees, grassy fields and a sandy beach on a beautiful blue coloured pond we had." Juno chuckles. "We asked for paint, and the creators sent some to us and we painted the Maze walls."

"Were there any monsters in your Maze?" Thomas asks curiously.

"Yeah..." Juno presses her lips together. "We had phantasmals." Leanne frowns, opening her mouth to ask more but Juno continues. "We called them that because they were phantasms; they were unreal, an illusion." The others listen quietly, intrigued. "When we found the bodies, they had red stings down their arms, and down their legs. A lot of the older girls believed they were chimeric beasts."

"Chimeric?" Leanne asks.

"They had body parts of more than one animal." Juno shakes her head. "They were weird... and mysterious. They always returned the bodies before the doors opened, leaving them for us to bury. They never ate them."


	18. New Allies

**THE MORE TIME** passed, the darker it got until finally it became nearly too dark to see ahead of them. Finally giving into their fatigue, the teens drop to the ground. "Let's stop here."

There wasn't a fire, or any chatter. Everyone went right to sleep. Leanne slept on her back, mainly because the ground hurt her shoulders when she slept on her side. She found herself watching the others fall asleep as she couldn't. After about an hour of laying there, she manages to fall asleep. The storm brewing in the clouds was no help, but she managed.

"Hey. Hey. Get up." She's woken up by Thomas' raspy voice. "Newt, get up. Come on, let's go. Frypan, Aris. I see something."

He turns in the direction of what he's talking about. In the distance, the group is able to see lights at the bottom of the mountains.

"What is it? What..." Newt says, stopping when he sees them.

"You see that?" He points to them. "It's lights."

They were so close, but Leanne didn't raise her expectations; they didn't know what they would find there.

"We made it." As Newt says this, a loud clap of thunder sounds behind them. Then, it happens again and they see lightening hit the ground.

"We gotta go." Leanne says, reaching down to get her bag. "Come on. Come on, let's go." As more lightening starts to hit the ground, the teens run towards the lights.

"Let's go! Hurry! Go! Run!" Leanne hears people yell as they run from the lightening.

"Keep moving!"

The faster they run, the come along cars parked at random. The building isn't far now, but the lightening is close.

"We're getting closer! Keep going!" Thomas yells to them.

Minho lags at the back of the group, trying to get Juno to run faster. "Come on, June!" Noticing the lightening getting even closer, Minho gives Juno a big push before it comes down to hit him. She's blown away, towards the group. A loud ringing sounds in her ears.

Without getting up, June manages to look back at Minho, who is laying on the ground a few feet away from her. With all her energy, she pushes herself up to crawl to Minho. She hears the others yelling in the distance, but can't make out what they are saying. "Minho..." she mumbles, shaking the boy. "Minho?" Thomas, Newt and Aris run out to go help the two. Newt helps June stand while Thomas and Aris get Minho up and being him to the door. Newt keeps his arm around Juno's waist to keep her from falling.

Leanne watches from further away, coming to help Newt who's holding June.

"Keep going! Go! Move!"

"Come on! Hurry up! Come on!" Frypan yells as he holds the door open.

"Get in." Leanne waits for them to come in. "Put him down. Watch his head." She tells them. "Who's got a light?" Someone behind her hands her a light. Crouched beside Minho, she checks his neck for a pulse.

"Minho!" Thomas shakes the boy, making it too hard for Leanne to find a pulse.

"Come on, come on." She mumbles. "Minho?" She pushes Thomas' hands off of Minho. "Stop shaking him." Then, she puts her fingers back on his neck, finding a faint pulse. "He's alive."

As Leanne tells the others this, Minho groans. Everyone lets out sighs of relief. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" Minho asks, looking up at the faces crowding him.

Leanne glances behind her to see Juno standing behind the group, not wanting to intrude.

"I think you got struck by lightning." Thomas tells him.

Minho looks between them. " _Oh_." He lets his head drop to the ground. "Wait— is June okay?"

"Yeah." She laughs from behind the group. Leanne and Thomas shuffle aside so Juno can crouch down beside the laying boy. "You get hit by lightening and you ask if I'm okay." She rolls her eyes. "Idiot."

"Come on, let's get him up." Thomas says.

"Cockblock." Leanne coughs, making Newt and Frypan laugh.

Minho glares at her while Juno backs away, a pink tint to her cheeks.

"Nice and slow. Okay."

While the boys help Minho get up, Teresa turns around to try and get a look at the dark room. As Leanne does the same, a whiff of something gets sent her way. She scrunches her nose up in disgust and Teresa has the same thought as her. "Hey, what's that smell?" Teresa asks, flicking her flashlight on. In front of her, a crank lunges forward.

Teresa yells and jumps backwards. Leanne grabs onto her before she falls down. With the flashlight, they're able to see that the crank is chained. "Behind you!" Teresa warns the others, who turn around to see another crank.

"Oh, shit!"

"Oh, my God." Flashing their flashlights around, they're able to see multiple cranks thrashing around, all chained down.

"I see you've met our guard dogs." A female voice says. They turn towards the voice and a light turns on behind the woman.

As she approaches them, Leanne's able to get a better view at them. The girl has cropped brown hair and big brown eyes. She doesn't look any older than them. "You guys look like shit." She concludes after taking a long at their dirty clothes and Leanne's bruised temple.

"Well thanks, I try." Leanne mumbles sarcastically, making the girl snort while she's looking at her.

"Come on. Follow me." She's about to walk off, but she turns to look at them. "Unless you want to stay here with them."

The teens follow the girl away from the cranks. She slides a door open and heads in. One by one, the group passes through the door to follow her. The room is large. Lights are hung up on post, making it dimly lit. Fires are placed throughout the room, surrounded by people.

"Come on, keep up. Jorge wants to meet you." She calls as she climbs up the stairs on the other side of the room. "

"Who's Jorge?" Thomas asks.

"You'll see." She responds. "No one's come out of the Scorch in a long time." They walk past other people who watch them pass. "You've just got him curious." She shrugs. "And me, too."

Newt glances behind himself. "Anyone else starting to get a bad feeling about this place?" Leanne glances behind herself just as Newt had done and sees the people who'd been watching them were now following them closely.

"Let's just hear him out. See what he has to say." Thomas tells them. They follow the girl up another flight of stairs and into a building with lots of knick-knacks and big windows.

"Jorge, they're here." The girl says to a man by the windows, listening to a radio.

"Do you ever get the feeling the whole world's against you?" He turns around to ask them. The man is older, probably late forties or early fifties. He steps forward. "Three questions." He walks closer, stopping to get himself a drink. "Where did you come from? Where are you going? How can I profit?" When no one answers, he adds. "Don't all answer at once."

"We're headed for the mountains." Thomas speaks for the team. "Looking for the Right Arm."

The people around them laugh. Jorge smiles. "You're looking for ghosts, you mean."

"Question number two. Where did you come from?"

"That's our business." Minho replies.

Suddenly, the people around them grab them to pull them apart. "Hey! Get the hell off me! Get the hell off me, man!" Thomas struggles against the large man.

Then, the girl grabs a metal contraption and walks towards them. "Shut up, you big baby." She takes the contraption and scans Thomas' neck.

"What is that?" He asks.

She pulls away to read something on it. "You were right." She tells Jorge.

"Right about what? What is she talking about?"

"I'm sorry, hermano. Looks like you're tagged." Jorge looks back down at the contraption. "You came from WICKED." He hands it back to the girl. "Which means... you're very valuable."

•••

Leanne was pissed, to say the least. She followed Thomas, running from WICKED, through broken cities and desert storms, just to find herself hanging from the ceiling.

"Good plan, Thomas. "Just hear what the man has to say."" Minho mocks Thomas. "Really working out for us."

"Shut up, Minho."

"You shut up, Thomas." Leanne snaps, making everyone look towards her. "You got us into this mess."

"Enjoying the view?" Jorge asks, coming out from the shadows.

"What the hell do you want?" Leanne asks, still not calming down.

"That is the question." Jorge steps close to the edge. "My men want to sell you back to WICKED. Life has taught them to think small." He tells them. "I'm not like that. Something tells me that you're not either."

"Is the blood rushing to my head, or is this shank not making any sense?" Minho asks.

"Tell me what you know about the Right Arm."

"I thought you said they were ghosts." Newt frowns.

"I happen to believe in ghosts." He looks towards Newt. "Especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves." He walks around to rest his hand on a lever. "You tell me what you know, and maybe we can make a deal."

"We... We don't know much." Thomas tells him.

He pushes the lever and they drop down a bit. "Okay! Okay, all right." The teens yell in surprise.

"They're hiding in the mountains." Thomas says quickly. "And they attacked WICKED."

"They got out a bunch of kids. That's it. That's all we know." Leanne finishes for him.

The man moves forwards, opening his mouth but stopping when someone speaks. "Yo, Jorge." Another man says, coming out of the shadows to face Jorge. "What's going on?"

"Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted." He answers. "We're done now."

"Hey, wait. You're not gonna help us?" Thomas asks, making the other man look confused.

"Don't worry, hermano." Jorge smiles. "We'll get you back to where you belong." He turns around, beginning to walk away. "Hang tight."

The other man looks at them before leaving.

"Okay." Leanne mumbles once the man is gone. "Someone push me."

"Pardon?" Newt frowns, looking over at her.

"Push me so I can get to the lever." She says, turning her head to Minho, the closest one to her. "Minho, ready?"

"Yeah." He grunts, swinging her body back and forth to get closer to the girl. Then, she feels his hands on her back as he pushes her forward. Lea stretches her arms and hands out as far as she can, but misses the handrail.

Around them, the others swing to help push Minho closer to Leanne. The brunette swings back towards Thomas this time, who reaches out to push her hard.

Lea yelps, missing the bar out of surprise. "Not my _ass_ , Thomas!"

"That doesn't matter right now." Juno whispers harshly. "Just focus on getting to the lever."

"Come on, Minho." Newt says as Lea swings back towards Minho. "Push her harder!"

Finally, Minho pushes Leanne hard, but Teresa swings in front of her by accident. "Shit!" Lea curses loudly, body checking Teresa towards the bar.

Acting quickly, Teresa grabs onto the bar. "Yes! Nice, Teresa!" Leanne smiles.

"Teresa, hurry!" Thomas whispers. Holding onto the handrail with one hand, and reaches one hand out to pull the lever, dropping them so Teresa is on the ground.

She takes the rope off her ankles and looks around. Then, she sees a metal bar laying on the ground. "Lea, grab onto this!" She says, pushing it out for the person closest to her. Leanne grabs onto the metal and Teresa pulls her closer to the edge, managing to pull her up. While Leanne works at the rope tied tightly around her ankles, Teresa pulls Thomas onto the floor.

Once Thomas gets the rope off his ankles, he goes to get Minho. Teresa works at getting Frypan, and Leanne works at getting Newt untied.

Because his rope is attached more to the middle, Leanne has to untie Newt's feet while he holds onto the floor, still upside down. "Okay, I'm close to getting it undone." She mumbles. "Get ready..." she pulls the last string then grabs his feet, pulling him onto the floor as she falls backwards. All while doing so, they hear Mr Janson's voice, warning the people about his men.

Getting up, they regroup and are about to leave when the man from earlier steps forward, cocking his gun. "We're not trying to cause any trouble, okay? We just got to get out of here." Thomas says with his hands raised.

The man smiles. "Is that so?" He raises a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Janson, I got 'em for ya. I'm bringing 'em down. Don't shoot us." He says, finishing his message. "Come on. Let's go." When no one moves, he adds. "I said let's go." He steps forward, and Thomas takes this chance to move his arm so the gun isn't pointing towards any of them, making the gun go off. The teens all take the chance to attack the man. However, he's able to push them back and reload his gun. "You little bastard!" He raises the gun to point at Thomas, and a gun goes off.

The man stands there, stunned, before falling to the ground. Behind him stands the girl they first saw when they arrived, Brenda.

"Okay. Come on." She nods. None of them live and she raises her voice. "Come on! Let's go!"

The teens start to run with Teresa in the back of the group. Leanne looks over at Juno beside her, who hasn't said much since they've gotten here. As they run, a song begins to play.

They run up a stairs and meet up with Jorge, who has a bag in hand. "Brenda! Hurry!" He says quickly. "We don't have much time! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" They follow him across the room to where he pushes two windows open, revealing a wide gap between the building and another building, with a wire attaching them.

"You gotta be kidding me." Frypan mumbles.

"Is now a bad time to mention my fear of heights?" Leanne's voice shakes, just like her hands.

"Plan B, hermana." Jorge tells her. "You kids wanna get to the Right Arm? I'll lead you to them." He points to them. "But you're gonna owe me." Then, he pulls a string from the ceiling and jumps out the window. "Follow me!" He yells, crossing the two buildings.

"All right! Let's go!" Brenda starts pulling the ropes down from the ceiling for the teens.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Leanne's breathes become quick and short. "I can't do this, I can't do this." She repeats to herself. Her hands shake by her sides, and she's unable to move.

Thomas is surprised, considering he did not think she was scared of much.

Newt is the one who pulls Leanne aside while the others go. "Leanne, I need you to breath."

She shakes her head. "I can't. I can't." He placed his hands on either side of her face.

"Deep breath in." He does it with her. "And deep breath out." She follows his lead, and her breathing slows.

"Okay, do you want me to go first, or do you want to go first?"

She shakes her head again. "Don't leave me."

Newt nods, then turns to Teresa, who jumps out the window. That leaves them with Brenda and Thomas. Newt hands Leanne a rope. Opening the circle up, he gestures for her to come forward. "Here, you're going to put your legs through here and sit." He nods for Thomas to come forward, and help her slip in so she was sitting in the loop of the rope. "Okay, hold on tight." Newt tells her. "I'll be right behind you, and Minho is waiting for you on the other side."

Before Lea can object, Newt and Thomas are pushing her off the ledge and into the void. Leanne clamps her eyes shut and keeps a tight grip on the rope. Then, the rope comes to a jarring stop. "It's okay." She hears someone mumble as she's help out of the rope, her eyes still closed.

Then, she's pulled away from the edge and held in a pair of strong arms. She hears Newt arrive, and finally opens her eyes. Minho's holding her tightly, Newt's rubbing his hands, Juno's standing in a corner watching everyone carefully, and Frypan is mumbling something to himself under his breath.

"We've got to start moving." Jorge tells the teens.

"What about Thomas and Brenda?" Leanne pulls herself out of Minho's arms.

Jorge swings his bag onto both his shoulders, eyeing her carefully. "Brenda knows where to go."

"So you just expect us to trust you?" She shoots, narrowing her eyes on him.

"Leanne!" Teresa snaps. "This is not the time! Jorge and Brenda have helped us get out of there, now we have to go before they try to come down here."

Leanne exhales loudly. "Fine. Let's go."


	19. Rising Tensions

**THE GROUP HAD** walked for at least two hours before deciding to stop to sleep. Leanne could hardly keep her eyes open when they stopped, and immediately found herself curling up into a ball in the corner of the room they were sleeping in.

They'd walked through countless amounts of buildings, all of which were either empty of filled with trash and mounds of crumbling rubble.

Leanne turns over in her sleep, mumbling incoherent words out loud.

_"Stop." She yells. "What we're doing here, Teresa, it isn't right."_

_"Isn't right?" Teresa raises her eyebrows. "Lea, we watched Mom die from the Flare, and you're telling me that trying to find a cure isn't right?" She yells in return._

_"You wouldn't know if she's dead because we left her!" Leanne snaps back._

_"She is dead! Every part of her that made her her is dead." Teresa says harshly. "Every ounce of humanity she had is gone." Teresa lowers her voice so it's barely above a whisper. "Our mother is just a crank now. Nothing more."_

_"That's not true." Leanne shakes her head in denial._

_"Grow up!" Teresa yells again. "Open your eyes, Leanne. If she's still out there, she's probably killed people. Innocent people."_

_"No. We left her locked in that room, Teresa." The brunette shakes her head. "She couldn't have killed anyone."_

_Teresa sighs. "I think you're more trying to convince yourself of that, not me."_

_Leanne frowns. "What makes you think that?"_

_"Because I know you, Leanne. I know you better than you know yourself."_

Leanne bolts upright, woken from her sleep by someone lightly shaking her shoulder. She looks up to see Teresa with her hands on her shoulders. "Sorry, you were talking in your sleep." Teresa removes her hands from Leanne's shoulders, and sits beside her with her back pressed up again the wall.

"Did you hear what I was saying?" Leanne studies the look in Teresa's eyes, understanding her. "You remember then?" Teresa nods. "That's why you weren't with us. Because they were returning your memories." Lea's voice is low, so only Teresa can hear. The others look like their sleeping, but Leanne doesn't want to chance it.

"Isla." Teresa breaths her name out softly, almost sounding relieved to finally say it. "Do you remember how beautiful she was?" Teresa asks.

Leanne nods. "She had your blue eyes."

"And your brown hair." Teresa adds. "I remember, she used to make pancakes in the morning, we'd get up and she would be singing in the kitchen." Teresa smiles. "Then, she'd drive us to school, and she'd head to work at the Hospital." Her smile drops as she continues. "I remember, when they closed all the schools, mom still had to work. So she'd covered all the windows with planks of wood, making sure we could still open them and get little breezes through the cracks between the planks. I remember she added four locks to the front door and the back door. As things got crazier she fenced the house in."

Leanne shakes her head softly. "I remember hating and loving that fence. It was so high I felt like I was trapped in my own home sometimes, however it made me feel safe cause nothing could climb ten feet of fence then get over the razor wire at the top."

"I remember when she came home with the Flare." Teresa says. "I was up late, sneaking around the house to get food when I shouldn't have been. She came in the house with a man, who told her to take all the time off that she needed and call for him if she needed help. She told him she would, and he left." Teresa shakes her head. "It was a patient; a young girl. Mom had been trying to help her when she freaked, and lashed out at Mom, scratching her arm." Tears pool in Leanne's eyes as she hears the story for the first time. "She wasn't supposed to be in there. Mom was supposed to be helping out a different person that day, but she wanted to help that little girl out."

Leanne wipes the tears falling down her cheeks, however more fall in their place. "She always wanted to help those who needed it. Even if she wasn't supposed to."

"You're like her, in that way. Always helping the people in need."

The two girls quiet down as the noise of an motor gets close. "What the hell?" Teresa mumbles.

"Get up! Get up!" Leanne calls out to the sleeping group. "Get away from the windows!" Following her instructions, they all come to rest their backs against the wall farthest away from the windows, where the light from the helicopter won't reach them.

"We have to get moving." Jorge says once the helicopter has passed them, turning back around to swoop again.

Groggily, the teens follow Jorge out of the room and down the steps of the building.

Newt, who walks alongside Juno, notes Leanne's puffy eyes and the trail of tears down her face before she can wipe them away, and tells himself he'll talk to her later. Juno walks quietly beside him, keeping her eyes on the ground to make sure she won't trip on anything.

They walked slowly, and Jorge kept telling them to move faster. The teens were tired of running, and just wanted a break from all of the chaos, but that break did not look like it was coming anytime soon.

Once they were past the buildings, their walking did not stop. Jorge told them about a passage, through the mountain. They were to take that to a city. He then told them that there were multiple passages through the mountain, and that Brenda must have taken a different one.

The entrance to the passage was tight. To get in, the teens had to get down on their hands and knees and shuffle in slowly. "I feel like I'm back in the air vents all over again." June grumbles.

"We should be out soon enough." Jorge says. After shuffling forward on their hands and knees for a couple of minutes, the group is finally able to stand up.

The passage is now a wide, tall tunnel. The ground is dirt, but the walls and ceiling are solid rock. "Let's get moving." Jorge nods to them, starting to move further into the tunnel.

Lea walks fast, catching up to Jorge to walk alongside him. "How do we know you're not screwing us over? Bringing us to a different WICKED warehouse?" She asks lowly, making sure the others can't hear their conversation.

"If I wanted to give you to WICKED, I would have done it back there, hermana" Jorge tells her.

"Listen, it may be easy to gain Thomas' trust, as well as the others, but I'm a stubborn little bitch." She tells narrows her eyes on him. "I don't think you're telling us the complete truth."

Jorge smiles, wrinkles forming around his eyes. "Well, Leanne, I don't think you and you're friends are telling me everything either." With that said, Jorge walks forward, leaving Leanne standing there as everyone walks by.

Newt stops to stand beside her, gesturing for her to walk with him. "Have a bad dream?" He asks. Leanne frowns, not understanding. "When we were all woken up, I could tell you'd been crying." He clears up.

Leanne nods, biting her lip. "Yeah."

Newt opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens it again. "Want to tell me about it?"

Leanne's about to say no. Back in the Glade, she had only ever told Gally about her dreams, and even then she left out big parts. However, this time when Newt asked she found herself nodding. "It was a memory, from before the Maze." She tells him slowly. "Teresa and I were fighting about what we were doing with WICKED."

Newt nods slowly. "Were you two friends before?"

"Bestfriends."

"And now?"

Leanne looks over at Teresa, who's chatting with Freddie as they continue to walk. "She's changed. We both have." Lea shrugs. "It's been a long time."

"Well of course you've changed. The last time you saw each other before being in the Maze, you were both kids." Newt says. "Now, you've grown. Your opinions, your lives, your experiences, it's all changed who you are."

Leanne shakes her head. "It's not just that, Newt." Newt frowns, looking down at Leanne. "We're s—" Before Liane can finish her sentence, shouting comes from Frypan and Aris, who are walking in the front with Jorge.

Out of the yelling, she can make out one distinct word. Cranks.

Leanne's pushed forward by Newt, as the group starts running. Jorge picks up a stick off the ground and whacks the crank away from them, however it seems that the noise from the commotion has woken up other cranks. As they run forward, the dirt on the ground turns into rocks. Behind them, they can hear cranks howling. _Screaming_.

In the tunnel, running is hard. They have to watch where they're going, but also where they are stepping. Juno falls, scraping her knee against the rock. Newt stops to help her up, but a cranks nearby manages to grab onto his foot and pull him back.

Newt falls onto the ground and struggles with the crank, who has a hold on both his arms now. Leanne grabs onto June, pulling her up. Jorge pushes the two girls back, and swings his foot to kick the crank off of Newt, sending him back into the other cranks. "Are you okay?" Leanne yells to Newt as they begin to run again.

"Yeah." He tells them.

"Are you sure?" Juno says, watching as he rubs his arm.

"I'm sure, June." Newt tells them quickly. As they reach the end of the passage, the group runs into a metal door.

"What the hell?" Frypan shakes his head, looking over at Jorge, who struggles with his loop of keys on his belt.

The older man looks through his keys quickly as the others look back to see how far away the cranks are. Leanne sees one particular crank getting too close for her liking. Looking around at the ground, Leanne sees a heavy rock. She picks it up in her hands, and throws it at the crank, hitting what once was a man straight in the chest and knocking him backwards. She hears clicking noises behind her, and turns to see Jorge swinging the door open.

"Quickly! Go, go!" Jorge yells at them, shoving each teenager through the door.

He shoves Leanne in last, then follows her. The two pull the door shut quickly, and Jorge pushes down on the lever, locking the door.

Standing beside the door, they can hear the cranks pounding on the door, yelling and howling for help.

"Everyone okay?" Jorge looks around at the teenagers, making sure everyone is uninjured. They all nod slowly. "We better get moving then."

Juno looks down at her bleeding knee as the others start moving, making both Leanne and Minho notice. The blood drips off her knee and down her leg.

Minho steps forward, placing a hand on her back. "How's your knee?"

June shrugs to him. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."

Leanne stands behind them, watching the interaction. "When we get more supplies, I'm going to want to clean your knee, just to make sure you don't get infected." Juno nods, and they continue on their way. "You know, I get told I'm the clumsy one but _damn_ , Junie, you can't run for shit."

June rolls her eyes, ignoring Leanne and focusing on where she's stepping.

"Sorry about the cranks back there." Jorge tells the kids as they climb up the rocks, trying to get to the top of the rocky hill. They had been walking for only five minutes and Lea could already feel the heat from the blistering sun on her skin. She would not be surprised if the next time she got a look in the mirror, she was as red as a tomato. "Last I'd checked, that tunnel was fine."

"Hey, at least we're all alive." Aris shrugs, knocking down a couple rocks. "Sorry!" He says as they fall down, narrowly missing Frypan beneath him.

"Come on, man!" Frypan exclaims. "I don't want to die because a rock fell on me."

Aris rolls his eyes. "You wouldn't die."

"Well I would be hurt." Frypan shoots back.

Newt scoffs. "You're exaggerating, Fry."

"Exaggerating?" Frypan screeches. "I just don't want anyone dying or being injured from this point on!"

"Someone better knock on wood before they jinx us all and we all die." Minho grumbles from the back of the group.

Juno makes it to the top of the hill, and turns to look down at them. "You're going to jinx us, Minho. Not Frypan."

Out of breath, Leanne shakes her head. "Y'all better stop talking about jinxing us."

One by one, they make it to the top of the hill and stop to stare at the desert below them. It wasn't much different than the landscape on the other side of the tunnel; beige mountains and flat sand lay ahead of them.

"We're going to have to take the mountain path. It should be safer." Jorge concludes after a minute of looking down at the terrain.

"Safer? From what?" Leanne frowns. "Definitely not cranks."

Jorge turns to look at the teens, more specifically Leanne. "There's been whispers about a group of people, living in the mountains beyond us."

"You're talking about the Right Arm, right?" Minho steps towards Jorge. "Not another group?"

"Sorry, hermano." Jorge shakes his head.

"You didn't tell us this." Freddie glares at Jorge. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

The older man starts walking towards a small path, barely visible. It leads up higher onto the side of the mountain. "If I had told you that we might be ambushed by a bunch of women, would you believe me?"

"A bunch of women?" Frypan squeaks.

Minho scoffs. "Please, you think a bunch of girls could take us?"

"I think Leanne, Teresa and June alone could take you." Jorge chuckles, walking up the path at the front of the group.

"I'm insulted." Minho grumbles.

Leanne follows closely behind Jorge. "I'm insulted, Minho." She nudges his shoulder with her own.

"I think we'd be pretty equal, but I don't know about other girls." Minho shrugs, rubbing his shoulder.

"I don't know, man. If they've survived our here for at least four years, I think one of them could take you all on." Jorge chuckles.

"Four years?" Teresa exclaims.

"Rumours of them have been around for four years."

"Whelp, hopefully up here we won't get attacked." Frypan shrugs.

"You guys are really going to jinx us." Leanne sighs.

Teresa scoffs. "You're the one who keeps bringing it up."

"Shut up, Teresa." Leanne rolls her eyes, fed up with the group's bickering although she made it worse.

"Can you both shut up?" Aris mumbles. "You're annoying everyone."

"You know what Aris, ever since we've gotten out you've been very quiet, and I think that's cause you're hiding something."

Aris swallows quickly. He doesn't want to get on Leanne's bad side, but he felt he might already be.

Leanne, on the other hand, did not feel any hatred for the boy. Actually, she felt nothing for him at all. She simply wasn't in a good mood all of a sudden and needed someone to yell at.

"I— uh— well I told you everything I know." Aris stutters.

Leanne stops, and the rest of the group stop with her. The teens watch carefully and Jorge watches with an amused smile on his face. "Okay, so why had you been at the holding centre for so long? Why didn't they take you too?" Aris stood quietly as she firmly placed her hands on her hips. "Why do you always seem to linger at the outside of the group, and never help?" She takes a step closer. "Why are you always watching, huh? Are you watching us for someone?" Now, Lea seemed to be taking things out of control. She wasn't steaming off anymore, she truly meant everything she was now saying.

Aris huffs out in annoyance, no longer tolerating the girl. "You know what, Leanne? You're just angry that Thomas is missing with some other girl cause you freaked out when you had to jump. You're angry cause you're friend Gally is dead. And cause Winston is dead, and you couldn't save him. You're mad at yourself because in reality, you're the useless one." That's all Aris manages to say before the brunette launches herself on him. She uses her nails to scratch his arms and pounds on his chest hard, but not long enough to do any damage before Frypan and Newt hoist the girl away and Minho holds Aris back from going to attack the girl himself.

"Calm down, Lea." Newt says to her harshly. He sighs. "You can't seem to keep yourself out of fights, can you?"

"Did you hear what he said? That it's all my fault?"

"Of course I heard him." Newt looks up at the group, all watching their interaction. Newt pulls the brunette away from the group so he can talk out of ear reach. "You can't let what he said get to you. You've gotta be better than that."

Leanne huffs our in annoyance. "But he's hiding something—"

"I couldn't care in the world if he's hiding something right now, Lea. I just want to find Thomas, then find the Right Arm."

"Okay, I guess." She breaths out slowly.

"You done?" Jorge steps towards them. The two teens nod. "Let's get going."


	20. A City of Rubble

**AS THEY BEGAN** to walk again, Lea felt like she was being watched. Every once in a while, rocks would fall off the rocks from above them. Just small ones, but Leanne was sure it wasn't the wind. Though, she could just be paranoid. She felt like every step she took, someone else followed. Someone like _WICKED_. They were always so close behind, always following at a distance until they were ready to pounce. It was always unexpected, and it tired Leanne. She wanted to find somewhere safe, so that they could plan and have the element of surprise.

The harsh sun led them all to wearing their blankets as shawls over their heads. It offered some protection, although Minho complained it made him feel like he was going to suffocate. Leanne turned a deaf ear to his complaints though, for some people had it worse, like the people who WICKED had captured. She couldn't help but think of all those people back at Jorge's shelter. They may not have been innocent —because honestly who was innocent during these times— but they didn't deserve what had came their way, because of her and her friends. She wondered if WICKED had killed them, or if they had let them be. Letting them be didn't seem like something the organization would do, and Leanne didn't want to think of the worse situation, but she couldn't live in a fantasy land. Bad things happened in this cruel world and she couldn't turn a blind eye to it. No one could.

They walked for an hour along the mountain trail until Jorge told them to stop. Small piles of burnt earth and wood lay across the small path, almost like people had been lighting fires and sleeping there.

Jorge kneels down and feels the ashes. "It's cold." He shakes his head. "It's been a little while."

"But they were still here." Leanne huffs. "Fuck." She swears under her breath. "We don't want to run into them."

"Well we can't backtrack, that'll loose us another hour and waste the one we just spend walking." June sighs, kicking a pile of dirt beneath her feet.

"But what if we did catch up." Jorge says after a moment of silence. "We could maybe convince them to work with us."

"Work with us?" Minho exclaims. "Now you're sounding even more crazy than usual."

Teresa steps forward. "But think about it. If we do, we could probably convince them by saying we could take them to the Right Arm."

"Sounds like a plan!" Jorge smiles, getting ready to move again.

"Woah, woah, woah! A half-cocked plan!" Leanne frowns. "What if they don't believe us. What do we do then?"

Jorge grins towards the girl. "We figure it out then." Leanne stands in her place, not convinced. "Hermana, I've got a plan. There's just a small gap in that plan, which is where we run into those women."

They all watch her, waiting for her to speak. It had appeared that with Thomas gone, Lea had taken the spot as a leader. Sure, Minho or Newt would have done way better, but Leanne stood out amongst the group, and since she always had something to say during an argument, people had actually begun to listen to her. Not like in the Glade, where if you weren't a Keeper your opinion was shrugged off. As much as Leanne wanted to miss the Glade, she couldn't bring herself to anymore. Not at the moment anyway.

"Okay." She nods. "Let's go."

"Lady's first." Jorge smiles to her.

Leanne starts walking, but Jorge calls her name out. "Uh, Leanne, we're going that way." He points in the opposite direction and everyone smiles.

Leanne smiles with them. "This is why I don't walk in the front."

**•••**

Forty minutes of walking was all it took for the group to run into the 'Ghost Girls' as Jorge has called them on the walk.

A few makeshift tents consisting of wood and sheets backed onto the rocky cliff. The sheets were mostly ripped, making it easy to peer into the tents. Bags were still laying around, waiting for their owners to come back for them. The makeshift campsite didn't look like it had been inhabited for a while.

"No one's been here in a long time." Minho points out, walking towards the tents to begin to search the bags.

As some of the others begin do copy Minho, Leanne finds herself rooted to her spot. This had been where the so called 'Ghost Girls' lived, and yet it looked like they hadn't been around in a while. If they were dead, then what chance did Leanne and her friends stand? These were the rumoured women who were able to take down anyone who came their way. If these women couldn't survive, then how would they?

"Hey guys!" Aris calls out. "Look at this! It's a journal."

The teens move to crowd around Aris as he flips it open to the front page.

"Do I— do I read it?" He asks hesitantly.

"Well what do you think we're waiting for!" Frypan exclaims.

Clearing his throat, Aris begins to read the journal. "Day one; the girls and I have escaped WICKED. I'm not quite sure how, but we have. It was a rough fight. After fighting the monsters, we were so tired. When we got out of the maze, there were these people waiting for us. It was suspicious, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. Instead of going with them, we ran. Even though we're safe —for now— I feel guilty. We've already started making a plan to get back into our maze. I promised Juno that I would come back for her and the others." At the familiar name, everyone turns to face Juno, who visibly pales.

"Wha— what?" She stutters, frowning. "What's the name at the bottom of the page, Aris?" The boy hesitates for a moment, so Juno pushes the teens out of her way to stand in front of Aris, who clutches the book tightly. " _Aris_. What's the name?"

"Rosalyn." He winces when Juno yanks the journal from his hand.

"Junie," Leanne takes a step forward to place a hand on the girl's arm softly. "Who's Rosalyn?"

"She was, um—" June's voice cracks and Leanne moves to wrap an arm around the girl in a comforting manner. Clearing her throat, June speaks again. "She was a girl in my maze." She speaks slowly, almost like she's trying to not fall apart while she speaks. Leanne doesn't keep her eyes off June's face, searching for any kind of emotion, but the girl keep her eyes on the paper. "We were in our maze a lot longer before you. We figured out how to escape, how to turn the monsters in our maze off for a little bit. It would give just enough time to escape. But there were so many young girls, who couldn't fight, so we sent the older girls first to get an idea of what we would do." Juno exhales softly. "They never came back. We thought— well we thought they had died." She shakes her head. "Some girls hoped they would come back for us. But they never did, and so most of us lost hope." Flipping the journal shut, Juno shrugs out of Leanne's arm. "Here I am, three years later, seeing that they really did escape. And they were trying to get back to us. For a little while, at least." Juno looks up and realizes everyone's staring at her. Clearing her throat loudly, she straightens her back. "We should get moving."

Leanne nods to the girl, then looks to the others. "Yeah, we should." When no one moves, Leanne claps her hands together twice. "Let's go! Come on!" The brunette begins to move, pushing people lightly so they begin to walk too.

Glancing back at Juno one last time, Leanne takes her spot beside Teresa as their journey begins again. Both sisters share a look of pity; neither of them could imagine how hard this was for Juno now. She had left the last of her family behind to leave with them, and now, old wounds were being reopened for the girl. Leanne shakes the thoughts away; she couldn't think like that. Not now. She had to keep focused, to find Thomas and Brenda. And after that, well, Leanne didn't know what they were going to do.

•••

Once they reached the city nestled between the mountains, it seemed Jorge already knew where he was going. Brushing past the vendors in the street, the older man led them in towards the building. The building itself wasn't anything fancy, but it was hard to miss. People were constantly bustling in and out —most of them going in—, some not completely sober and others ready to party.

When the group approached the building, a flash of recognition went through Jorge's eyes. He had marched up to the man and punched him right in the jaw.

"Hello, Marcus." Jorge spits, glaring at the man.

"Jorge. What are you doing here?"

"Not to socialize, that's for sure." Leanne snaps, stepping forward to get a good view at the man who was already getting on her nerves.

"Calm down, darling. Go inside, have a drink, relax." Marcus smiles, and the woman beside him giggles.

Leanne face burns red. "After everything I've been through just to get here—"

Jorge steps in front of Lea, making her quiet down. "She's a feisty little one."

"You b—" Once again, Leanne is interrupted. This time, Minho's pulling the brunette back, away from the conversation. "What?" She asks innocently.

"Lea, you need to stop and just calm down." Minho's hands rest on her shoulders, keeping her not far from him as other people shuffle by. "You're just mad, and tired and overreacting."

"You're right... you're right." She nods, exhaling loudly. "I'm not thinking straight."

"Lee! Minho!" They both turn to see Newt waving them over. "We're going in."

With Marcus and Jorge in the lead, the group walks in through the curtains. Music plays loudly, and people dance around the room. Bodies are pressed up against each other, too many people are in the building.

"Let's split up to find them." Jorge yells over the loud music.

Each teen goes their separate way, walking through the room. Leanne's heart thumps to the beat of the music.

Men and women dance to the music, none of them seeming shy or uncomfortable. The smell of liquor is in the air, and burns Leanne's nostrils. Her eyes move across the room, looking around at each person to see if it's Brenda or Thomas. She doesn't see either of them, but continues to search. God, when she found Thomas she was going to smack him so hard he wouldn't remember his own name — _why_ on earth did he feel the need to come into this place? The stench made Leanne's eyes water and she kept having to pinch the bridge of her nose to keep herself from bending over and dry heaving the contents of her stomach.

"Leanne!" She hears over the sound of the music. The brunette turns around to see the group waving her over from the bottom of a staircase. She slips around the dancing people and walks over to them. "You found him?"

"Junie did. He was laying by the side of the room unconscious." Newt nods over to Minho and Frypan. Leanne looks over to see Thomas unconscious. Minho's holding onto his feet while Frypan has his arms.

Aris comes down the steps from the upper floor. "Guys, come on! They're waiting." The teens shuffle upstairs, and follow Aris into a large room. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, fancy couches are placed around the room, a table with four chairs is placed near the back, as well as a mattress that lays in a corner.

Thomas is brought to the mattress, and Teresa is quick to sit next to him. Brenda sits on one of the couches further away, not looking too happy.

As Leanne and June walk further into the room together, they see Marcus tied up to a chair, with an already bloody face.

"Jeez, Jorge. You're already working at him, huh?" Minho asks, raising his eyebrows.

"He knows where the Right Arm is." Jorge grumbles. "He just won't talk."

A solid fifteen minutes passed and Jorge was started to get really impatient. Marcus refused to speak, and if he did it was to tell them he would never help them. He was obviously a lot tougher —or maybe just stubborn— than Leanne thought him to be.

Leanne and June were seated at the table, side by side. June watched as Jorge tries to get information from Marcus once again. Lea sits with her forehead on the table, not caring to even watch anymore. Marcus wasn't giving them anything.

Minho, Frypan, Newt and Aris sit on the ground, pressed up against the wall. They all watched as Jorge tried to get information from Marcus.

"I suggest that you talk!" Jorge tells him angrily. "You son of a bitch! Talk!" Then, the older man punches Marcus across the cheek. "Damn it!"

"I'm sorry..." Marcus begins. "You're going to have to leave my house."

"Looks like you've been having fun." Leanne hears Newt say. She lifts her head off the table and sees Thomas standing beside Newt, looking between Jorge and Marcus.

"Listen. I don't enjoy hurting you." Jorge finally calms down.

"Okay?"

"Where is the Right Arm, Marcus?"

"Wait, this is Marcus?" Thomas asks, frowning.

"The kid catches on quick." Marcus laughs. "Are you the brains of the operation?"

Jorge interrupts him, grabbing his hair to push his head back. "I know you know where they're hiding." He tells him, shutting the tied man up. "So you tell me, and I'll make you a deal."

"You can come with us." Thomas speaks up.

Marcus grins at the boy. "Thanks for the invitation, but I burned that bridge a long time ago." Marcus shrugs through the bindings. "Besides, I made my own deal." He looks up at Jorge. "You're the one who taught me, never miss an opportunity."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Newt stands, coming to stand beside Thomas.

"I'm talking about supply and demand." He replies shortly. "WICKED wants all the Immunes they can get. I help provide that for them."

"Dick." Juno mumbles quietly.

Marcus ignores her and keeps speaking. "So I lure the kids in...they get drunk, they have a good time." Marcus' eyes roam over the kids in the room. "And then, later, WICKED comes in...they separate the wheat from the chaff."

"I changed my mind, hermano." Jorge speaks calmly. "I do enjoy hurting you." The older man grabs onto Marcus shoulders and pushes his chair back to fall onto the ground. He pulls his gun out and stands over Marcus. "Talk! Talk!"

At the sight of the gun, Marcus caves quickly. . "Okay! Jesus!" He exclaims quickly. With Newt's help, Jorge pulls the chair back up. "But I'm not making any promises. These guys like to move around." Marcus huffs out. "They have an outpost in the mountains. But it's a long way away." Marcus smiles. "You got half of WICKED on your ass. You're never gonna make it." He concludes. "Not on foot."

Jorge's quiet for a minute before he speaks. "Where's Bertha?" He asks quickly.

Marcus' grin turns into a frown. "Not Bertha." He pleads. "Please, no." Jorge raises his fist to punch Marcus, but the pleading man yells for him to stop. "I'll tell you, but first you have to answer my question." Marcus asks and Jorge nods. "Where'd you pick all these kids up?"

Jorge chuckles. "They came to me."


	21. The Right Arm

**THE RIDE IN** Bertha was squishy, to say the least. They had not expected having to cram everyone in a car, but here they were.

Newt sat in the front seat, beside Jorge. In the bench behind them Minho, Thomas, Frypan and Teresa were all crammed together.

Then, in the covered bed of the truck Leanne, Juno, Aris and Brenda were all squished.

Having the truck was definitely helpful. They drove double what they had walked in a day, thanks to Jorge constantly speeding. It's not like it mattered, no one was going to pull them over.

The ride was silent as they drove up the mountain roads. They were shielded from the blinding sun, but had to watch out for where rocks had fallen onto the road.

They maintained their speed until they came across a roadblock; multiple cars were all stopped in front of a tunnel. Quickly, the group exits the truck, all coming to stand together to examine the roadblock.

"Well, I guess we're on foot." Jorge sighs.

Together, they begin to walk towards the vehicles. They take turns peering into cars and going through the trunks.

Leanne walks ahead with Teresa, getting a look at the vehicles up further. Some of them had bullet holes in them.

"There's someone here." Teresa speaks quietly.

"How do you know?" Leanne frowns, watching the girl as she scans the top of the surrounding cliffs.

"Because I would do the same thing. It's a trap. Block the way so you have to get out of your car." Before she can say anything else, the sound bullets flying through the air startle them.

"Get down!" Jorge yells.

Adrenaline rushes through Leanne as Teresa grabs her and they take cover behind a car.

"Hey, is everyone okay out there?" Thomas calls out.

"We're fine." Teresa answers for them.

As the adrenaline rushing through Leanne's veins slows, she gasps softly. Teresa looks to the girl, seeing the blood coming out of her arm. "Goddamn, it's always me." She shakes her head and Teresa opens her mouth to tell the others. "Always fucking me." Leanne tells her. "Stay quiet." She says to the brunette.

"Anyone know where those bloody shots came from?" Newt yells.

"That son of a bitch, Marcus. He led us into an ambush." They hear Jorge say. A few seconds later, more gunshots are fired, however they're not close to Teresa and Leanne's car.

"I have the worse fucking luck ever." Leanne huffs out. "The bruise on my eye is bad enough, my ankle still kinda hurts, and now I'm shot in the arm!" Teresa watches the girl with wide eyes. "Someone's out to get me!"

Teresa rolls her green eyes. "Yeah, WICKED." She chuckles. "Does it even hurt?"

Leanne tried to shrug. "Meh. My arm is kinda numb." She speaks quickly.

"Everybody!" Jorge yells to them. "Get set to sprint back to the truck! And hold your ears!"

Leanne turns to her sister. "Quick, get my jacket from my bag!" Teresa moves quickly, pulling the jacket from the brunette's bag and handing it to her. Leanne painfully pulls the jacket on, covering her arm.

Both girls get into crouching positions, ready to run back to the truck. However, before anything happens, they hear a gun cock.

"Drop it." A female says. "Now! I said drop it." They hear a clanging sound on the ground. "On your feet. Let's go." She says harshly. Leanne is about to stand up, but Teresa grabs her arm before she can. "Let's go!" The woman says even more harshly. "Move! Back up!" Leanne peaks through the window of the car to see Thomas and Jorge standing with their hands up, backing away from two females with guns.

"You two, over here now!" The woman yells to Newt and Minho.

Slowly, everyone else moves to get up. "Come on, let's go!"

"Don't be stupid!" The other woman yells.

Teresa huffs out and grabs onto Leanne, pulling her up to stand with her. Slowly, they walk to join the group. "Move. Slowly."

The woman with the brown hair in dreads frowns as her eyes roam over the group.

"Aris?"

The group turns to look at Aris slowly, and the tan woman pulls the scarf around her face off.

"Oh, my God. Harriet?" Aris pushes past the other teens, moving to hug the female.

"My God. What the hell are you doing here?" She asks him as she returns the hug.

Aris turns to look over at the blonde, who's also taken off her scarf. "Sonya." He moves to hug her.

"Aris, you're lucky we didn't shoot your dumb ass." She laughs as she hugs him.

"How...?" Aris asks them.

"What's happening?" Minho asks beside the others, who all still stand with their hands raised.

"We were in the maze together." Aris smiles.

Harriet, the brunette, walks a few feet away to whistle loudly. "We're clear, guys!" She yells. "Come on out!"

"Copy that! We're clear!" People yell down from the mountains. "Stand down!"

Leanne turns around to see lots of people come into view on the top of the mountains. "Holy crap." She sighs.

"You could say that again." Minho shakes his head in amazement.

Thomas and Leanne make eye contact, and Leanne raises her eyebrows at him in shock. "A lot of people." She mumbles, grabbing her arm softly.

Teresa watches the girl worriedly. The brunette steps towards Leanne. "You good?"

Leanne face falters. "Yeah, all good."

Minho steps closer to the girls. "Why would you not be good?" He narrows his eyes at Teresa, who looks over to Leanne.

Teresa opens her mouth but Leanne speaks before her. "No reason, just a little shaken up." She shrugs, hiding her wince quickly by turning to follow Sonya and Harriet, who've started to walk through the tunnel.

On the other side there were multiple vehicles parked, all getting moved by other people.

"We're taking them to base." Harriet says to the people.

"Wait, so, how did you guys get here?" Aris asks as they follow her up to a few Jeeps.

"The Right Arm got us out." Harriet tells them shortly.

"Wait, wait. The Right Arm?" Thomas asks, speeding up to walk at the front of the group. They come to a stop in front of the Jeeps. "Do you know where they are?"

Harriet smiles, opening the car's door. "Hop in."

**•••**

Leanne was happy to sit down for a while, even if she was squished between both Thomas and Minho's broad shoulders. Her dizziness had gone away, however her arm throbbed in pain, matching the beat of her heart. Her visions blurred, but at one point during the car ride she'd closed her eyes. She didn't want to be a pain in anyone's ass, so she kept quiet. She knew she would get a scolding from Newt later, but she didn't care right now. She wanted people to stop asking her if she was okay. She even made sure she wasn't in the same car as Teresa, so the girl couldn't bother her about her injury. She gently pressed her hand to her arm to slow the bleeding, but as she dozed off her hand slowly slid from the wound.

She was shaken awake by Thomas and Minho after what felt like not long. "Are we there?"

"What is this?" Thomas asks as he holds up her bloody hand.

Leanne groans. "Just a scratch." She pulls her hand from his grasp.

"That much blood is not just from a scratch."

With difficulty, Leanne manages to pull her jacket off her arm. "I didn't think it was that bad." She says, pushing her black t-shirt sleeve up a bit to get a look at the wound.

"You didn't think it was that bad?" Minho exclaims. "Are you looking at it!"

Leanne rolls her eyes. "I'm the Med-jack, Minho. Calm down." She looks between the two boys before looking down. "Plus, I didn't want to be a burden."

"You've got a bullet in your arm and you don't think it's a big deal." Minho grumbles under his breath. "I'll never understand you."

"If you didn't want to be a burden you should have gotten it treated right!" Thomas snaps, ignoring Minho and grabbing her jacket from her hand to wrap it around her arm.

Harriet turns in her seat to look back at them. "We'll get you some medical attention when we get back to base." She smiles to Leanne, who nods in return.

After wrapping her arm, Thomas gently let's go of it to set it down on her lap.

Moving slowly and cautiously, Thomas then grabs ahold of her hand, holding it in his. The warmth of his hand seems to spread up her arm and her cheeks burn red. She tries to act oblivious as Minho winks to her and Thomas pretends that nothing's changed, but Leanne can't ignore the butterflies that flutter in her stomach. She had pushed her feelings back for so long that instead of disappearing like she had hoped, they had intensified.

**•••**

Climbing out the vehicle sent a new wave of nausea and dizziness through Leanne. The brunette had to hold the door to steady herself for a minute before trusting herself to follow the others.

Her eyes wandered through the bustling people at the camp. Some people talked, and others walked around heading somewhere else in the camp.

"They've been planning this for over a year now." Harriet explains as they walk up to the base. "This is all for us."

"You guys are lucky you found us when you did." Sonya says. "We're moving out at first light." The blonde looks over at a man walking by. "Where's Vince?"

"Somewhere over there, I think." He gestures towards tents up to the right.

"Who's Vince?" Thomas asks.

"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet answers before glancing over at Leanne.

As they walk through the crowds of people, Leanne notices that there is not as many people as she thought there would be, and it seemed the others thought so too. "I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army." Thomas points out.

"Yeah, we were." A tall man with dirty blonde hair steps out from a tent to their right. "This is all that's left of us." He walks to stand in front of them. "Lot of good people died getting us this far." He turns to look at Harriet and Sonya. "Who are they?"

"They're Immunes." Harriet replies. "Caught 'em coming up the mountain."

The man, Vince, takes a good look at the group, noticing Brenda's ghostly complexion and the blood on Leanne's arm and hand. "Did you check 'em?"

"I know this guy, Aris. I trust him." Harriet shrugs.

"Well, I don't." He shakes his head. "Check 'em." He gestures for a man behind them to come and check them.

A couple feet to her left, Leanne notices Brenda's breathing become more jagged.

"Hey, boss..." The other man gestures from Vince to Brenda.

Without warning, Brenda falls forward onto the ground.

"Brenda! Brenda!" Jorge jumps into action, crouching down beside her. "Brenda! Brenda." He helps her lay back in his arms. "Brenda, talk to me."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Leanne hears the girl repeat to Jorge.

"What's going on with her?" Vince asks, crouching down at Brenda's feet.

"I don't know." Jorge shakes his head. "Brenda, are you all right?"

Leanne watches attentively as Vince lifts the girl's pant leg, revealing a bite mark on her ankle.

"Shit!" He yells, backing up and pulling his gun out quickly to point it at Brenda. "Crank! We got a Crank!"

A chorus of "no"s are yelled from the teens as they back away slightly from the gun, although they don't want to see Brenda hurt.

Thomas is the only one who runs towards Vince. "Wait, wait!" He raises his hands in front of him. 

"Step back!" Vince yells to Thomas.

"Listen, okay? This just happened, okay?" Thomas speaks quickly. "She's not dangerous yet."

Vince shakes his head. "You shouldn't have brought her here!"

"I know." Thomas answers quietly.

"We let Cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn't last a week!"

At this point, people have crowded around them from a safe distance to watch the scene.

"I understand, okay?" Thomas nods. "I understand. Just listen. Please. Please, okay?" He pleads with Vince. "I told her that you could help. Okay?"

"There's got to be something you can do." Teresa says from beside Brenda.

Vince looks over at the girl. "Yeah, there is." He doesn't put his gun down. "I can put her out of her misery."

"No! No!" Jorge yells, being held back by two men.

"Vince, that's enough!" A female yells from behind, coming up to stand with him. "Let him go." She says to the men holding Jorge.

"She's infected, Doc." Vince says the the woman. "There's nothing we can do for her."

The Doctor's eyes move over to Thomas. "No, but he can." She pauses. "Hello, Thomas." Her eyes then flicker over to Leanne. "And Leanne." She says, sounding surprised.

Leanne frowns as the teens beside her turn to frown at her. "Don't look at me, I don't know her." She shrugs, leaning on Minho for support. "I think I'm about to faint too."

"You know me?" Thomas asks her.

"Interesting." She nods. "It makes sense they'd put you in the maze." She walks over to Brenda. "Though I must admit... I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."

"What I did?" He asks.

"The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore... watching your friends die, one by one." She over at Leanne, Minho, Newt and the others beside them. "The last time we spoke... you gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial and lab."

"He was our source." Vince concludes.

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without him." She nods. "Take her to the tent. Get these guys some warm clothes." She instructs to people. Jorge helps the doctor pick Brenda up. "Careful. Come on."

"Thanks." Jorge mumbles.

"Hey, it's the least we can do." She smiles warmly to the group, then waves for Thomas to follow her. "Thomas, come on. I need to get some blood from you."


	22. Game of Survival

**AFTER SEEKING MEDICAL** attention for her arm from Mary, the doctor, Leanne found herself being forced into a tent and into a bed.

Mary checks her bandages one last time, and replaces the ones around her ankle that Kate has put there what felt like long ago. "I'm sorry I don't remember you." Leanne speaks quietly to the older woman.

Mary shakes her head, smiling. "You probably wouldn't remember me even if they hadn't wiped your memories before going into the Maze." Mary places other bandages on a against the back of the tent. "You were young. All of you were when I first met you." Mary hesitates before speaking. "Uh, do you and Teresa—"

"Know that we're sisters?" Leanne interrupts. "Yeah, yeah we do." She shakes her head. "But that doesn't change anything between us. We've been apart for so long."

Mary nods. "It takes time, but you'll get there." She smiles. "I'll let you be." The older woman exits the tent, and Leanne hears her run into someone. "Sorry!" She hears Mary say to someone, who mumbles an apology back. "She's all good. You should talk to her."

After a couple more words exchanged, the flap of the tent opens and Thomas walks in. Leanne watches him as he comes to sit the edge of her bed, beside her. "How's Brenda?" Leanne asks quietly, playing with a lose thread from the blanket on her lap.

"Better." He nods, not making eye contact. "You?"

"Better." She nods. "Tired of everyone asking how I'm doing."

Thomas sighs. "I'm sorry for snapping at you back in the car."

Leanne looks up at him to smile. "It's okay, Thomas."

He frowns, shaking his head. "It's not. I was just angry, and scared." He eyes the bandages around her right arm. "You already hurt your ankle," He raises his hand to brush his fingers against her temple. "And that guard gave you a nasty bruise." He sighs again, not removing his hand from her cheek. "And then, to see that gunshot wound, it just made me scared that I was going to lose you."

She leans into his touch, enjoying the feel of his warm hand against her cold cheek. "You won't lose me, Thomas." She smiles softly. "Even when I annoy you, you won't be able to get rid of me."

He smiles. "Never?"

"Never." She nods. "Thomas, I—" She inhales deeply. "I, um, I should get some rest." She sighs, looking down in her lap.

Thomas pulls his hand away from her cheek and quickly stands up, taking a few steps back. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"No, no, it was really nice of you to come check in on me." She shakes her head, blushing. "I'm just really tired."

He nods. "Right." He moves closer to the tent flap. "I'm going to see the guys."

She nods in return. "Okay. I'll be here."

Once he was gone, Leanne lays down in her bed, ready to sleep. It came to her quickly, too, and she didn't fight it one bit.

The world around her was gone. Leanne stood in the middle of the base, with fire surrounding her. She could hear people screaming for help, and her she couldn't see them.

This wasn't a memory, it was the futur. The tents burnt down to ash, but she couldn't move. She couldn't talk. She could only watch.

_Ava Paige, dressed in her classic all-white ensemble steps out of the flames and towards Leanne. "You can't stop this, Leanne." She smiles. "You were never meant to." Slowly, fires lights her feet up on fire. "You were never meant to leave the Maze!" Ava screams as the flames engulf her legs. "You were meant to die there!" The flames grew taller than her, swallowing her and her words._

_Leanne was alone. The fire around her got closer, but not close enough to hurt her. She could hear screams, and bombs dropping. She could hear shooting. But other than that, it was just ringing._

When Leanne was startled awake, the ringing, the bombs and the screaming didn't go away. The side of her tent had caught on fire, and the smoke began to fill her lungs.

Quickly, she flings the blanket off of herself and rushes out of the tent.

She rounds the corner of the tent and runs right into an armed man. Thinking quickly, she picks a metal bar up from off the ground and flings it, hitting the man hard in the head and knocking him over. Leanne bends over to grab the gun from his hand, then runs to take cover behind a car. Her arm aches but she shakes the thought away as she rips the makeshift sling off.

From there, she takes shots at WICKED's men, trying to spot the others as she does so. Then, not far to her left, she hears Thomas. Turning over to look, she sees Brenda pulling Thomas behind barrels.

Ignoring them, Leanne continues to shoot at the men. She shoots a man with a bomb, but it's too late; he's already thrown it. Watching it as it soars through the air, Leanne sees it land in the truck where all her friends are, and watches it electrocute them.

As men move to go get her friends, Leanne steps out from behind her hiding spot, shooting them quickly. However, she's quickly outnumbered, and finds herself getting pulled with the others towards where they're all being gathered.

The men were obviously told not to handle anyone nicely as the people are pushed around. Leanne's arm aches even more as the man holds it tightly, pushing her down to kneel between Minho and Juno. She was sure she had ripped a few stitches.

A man passes behind them and scans their necks. Once he gets to Juno, she breaths in a shaky breath. "X-7" The man reads.

A few meters in front of her, Mr Janson whips around at the sound of Juno's code. "X-7?" He asks the man. "Are you sure? Scan her again."

"Well, well, well." Janson approaches Juno. "Miss Juno, I knew you were valuable but not _that_ valuable." He gestures for another man to come over. "Take her off to the side. She's a special one."

Juno's pulled up harshly and brought over to stand between some armed men. Leanne watches curiously. What does that mean? Why is she so special?

The man scanning them pushes Leanne's hair from her neck and scans. "A-5"

The scanning continues, but at this point Leanne's lost interest. "Where's Thomas?" Janson asks one man.

"Right here." A voice calls out from behind them. They all turn quickly to see Thomas surrendering.

"Thomas." Janson places his left hand on Thomas' shoulder, than rams his right fist into the boy's stomach.

Thomas bends over in pain. "Get him in line." A man grabs onto him and pushes him down on his knees beside Newt, who's on Minho's other side.

"Okay." Janson walks over to a different man and whispers something to him, but Leanne stops paying attention. Instead, she turns to look over at the boys beside her.

"Why didn't you run?" Minho asks without turning to look at Thomas.

Thomas' eyes flicker over to Leanne before he looks down at the ground in front of him. "I'm tired of running."

Leanne looks over at Juno, who stand off to the side with three men surrounding her. There's no way they were getting out of this all together. Leanne knew it. They weren't all going to walk away.

A sound from the sky breaks her from her thoughts. It's the same one that they hid from when they first ran from WICKED; the sound of a berg.

It emerges from the smoke, lighting up the places been more. The sand around them picks up and the aircraft comes to land in front of them. Then, the bottom opens, revealing a blonde woman dressed in all white, surrounded by armed men.

"Ava Paige." Leanne whispers to Newt and Minho. "The one who's behind it all."

"Is this all of them?" She asks Janson.

"Most of them." He nods. "It'll be enough."

Ava's eyes wander over the faces of the captured. "Start loading them in."

"Yes, ma'am." Janson nods again, turning to the armed men. "Okay, you heard. Let's go! Get 'em on!"

Ava walks over to stand in front of the teens, and Thomas is forced back up onto his feet.

"Hello, Thomas." She speaks calmly. Then, to their left, armed men break apart to reveal Teresa. Ava extends her arm to place her hand on Teresa's back. "I'm glad you're safe."

The rest of them stand with up in their spots. Leanne's eyebrows raise in shock as she watches her sister.

"What the hell? Teresa?" Frypan frowns.

"Wait, what's going on?" Newt asks, glancing over at Leanne, then Thomas.

"She's with them." Thomas says shortly.

Minho shakes his head. "Since when?"

Janson walks over to stand beside Teresa. "Teresa's always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good." He walks around them to stand beside Ava. "Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time."

"I'm sorry. I had no choice." Teresa's cold eye roam over the teens, however her look falters when she lands on Leanne.

"Of course you had a choice." Leanne takes a few steps forward, but the man beside her stops her. "Teresa, I know why you're doing this." Lea shakes her head. "She wouldn't want this."

Leanne can see love and the fear behind Teresa's cold eyes. "She suffered so much, Lee." Teresa looks over at Ava. "I don't want that for anyone else."

Leanne pushes the man off her. "There's other ways to help!"

Teresa shakes her head, looking away from Leanne. "This is the only way. We have to find a cure."

Ava nods. "She's right. This is all just a means to an end." She watches Thomas carefully. "You used to understand that, Thomas." She looks over at the brunette. "You too, Leanne, just not as much as the others did."

Leanne glares at the older woman. "That's why you sent me in the Maze. You weren't planning on, but you did."

Ava looks at the girl apologetically. "No matter what you think of me... I am not a monster." She shakes her head. "I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure!" She speaks confidently. "No matter the cost." She pauses. "I just need more time."

"More blood." Mary says from behind them.

They turn in shock to see Mary standing there, watching their interaction with Ava.

"Hello, Mary." She speaks calmly, he voice unwavering. "I hoped we'd meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances." Ava says, almost coming off sincere.

"I'm sorry about a lot of things, too." Mary nods. "But not this." She shakes her head. "At least my conscience is clear."

For a few seconds, Ava doesn't respond. "So is mine."

A gunshot rings through the air. People jump back in surprise, but not Mary. She's planted, frozen in her spot. Leanne looks over at Ava, and sees Janson behind her, holding a gun up.

As Vince yells Mary's name, he catches her before she slowly hits the ground. He sits with her leaned up against him, begging Mary for a response. "No! Mary!" The sounds of Vince's screaming are gut wrenching, and suddenly Leanne feels the strong urge to throw up, however she swallows it down.

She looks over at Teresa, and sees that she's no longer cold. She's in shock, and looks as if she's doubting her decision.

"Come on, Janson." Ava turns away to start walking towards the helicarrier. "Load them up. Let's go." She yells to the armed men around them. "All these people. Get rid of them."

A man grabs Thomas and starts to push him forward, but before he can get far Thomas elbows him in the stomach hard. He pulls out a bomb and the detonator, holding it up for everyone to see. "Get back! Everyone, stand back!" He spins around so everyone stays back. The armed men around them raise their guns, but Janson runs towards them, holding his hands up to them.

"Hold your fire!" He yells to them. "Hold your fire!"

"Stand back. Let 'em go." Thomas keeps the bomb raised in his hand.

"Thomas, put it down." Janson tries to plead.

Thomas doesn't listen to him. "Let 'em all go!"

Ava Paige takes a couple steps towards Thomas. "You know I can't do that!"

"Thomas, please stop." Teresa takes her turn trying to plead to Thomas from behind Ava and Janson. She continues to speak quickly. "I made a deal with them. They promised we'd be safe. All of us."

"And I'm supposed to trust you now?" Thomas snaps at her.

"It's true. It was her only condition." Ava adds.

"Shut up!"

"Everything can go back to the way it was." Ava watches Thomas carefully. "Thomas... do you really want all of them to die?"

"Listen to her, Thomas." Janson adds. "Think about what you're doing."

Minho's the first to walk towards Thomas and stand beside him. Newt, Frypan and Leanne follow him over.

Leanne moves to stand on his other side, and places her hand on his arm.

"We're with you, Thomas." Newt says, the rest of them nodding in agreement.

"Do it, Thomas." Minho tells him.

Leanne looks over at Juno, who nods. "We're ready." Leanne says softly.

"We're not going back there." He shakes his head.

"Thomas?" Ava said quietly.

"It's the only way." Thomas says, not faltering.

"Thomas!" Ava yells as Thomas brings his finger down. But before he can press it, a loud car horn rings threw the air.

With Jorge in the front seat, he rams into one of the parked helicopters. Leanne is pushed to the ground by the force of the blow.

She's helped up quickly by Frypan. "Freeze!" A couple of armed men yell at their group. "Drop it, kid!" He gestures to Thomas, who's still holding the bomb.

Thinking quickly, Thomas throws the bomb over at the men. "Run! Get down!"

Newt pulls Leanne back and away from the men just as Thomas detonates the bomb.

She's pushed by the boys as they move away from some other men. "Thomas! Come on!"

Leanne looks over at Vince to see him using the machine gun to take out WICKED's men. Minho stops to pick up a gun off the ground, and start shooting the gun.

However, she stops before she can get to where the boys are hiding. Looking around herself, she searches the running people for Juno. She lost track of the girl after Thomas brought the bomb out.

The boys behind her yell for her and Minho to come with them, but instead Leanne runs back out into the battlefield.

A shriek off to her left catches her attention. She sprints through the little fires, and comes across Juno fighting a couple guards. Juno's got a hold of a large wooden branch. More men come for her as she fights them off.

Leanne jumps into action quickly. She picks up a metal bar and swings it right into the man's head in front of her. However, they're wearing helmets. Instead, she takes the beam and rams it into his stomach, sending him tumbling onto the ground.

"There's too many of them!" Leanne yells. "We have to go back and find the guys!"

"Okay, let's go!" Juno nods, signalling for Leanne to follow her.

But the men are too quick. As Juno jogs back to take cover behind some large shipping containers, Leanne's picked up from behind and hoisted off the ground.

She shrieks, flailing her arms and legs to try and get out of the man's grasp but it's not enough. A second man comes to hold her feet, and the two men carry her as she continues to squirm. She doesn't stop yelling as they carry her towards the berg. "Help! Help!" She knew her cries were being heard, but she knew no one would help her. It was hopeless; WICKED had put her in this game, so it was only a matter of time before they took her out.

She watches as what's left of the Right Arm goes and takes cover on the higher ledge. Leanne's finally put down beside Teresa, who barely looks over at the girl.

Teresa was playing at a dangerous game, and Leanne knew if she wanted to survive, she'd have to play it too.

After all, this was a wild game of survival.


	23. THE DEATH CURE

**FOR SIX MONTHS** , Leanne had been without her friends. Without Newt's laughter, Minho's sarcasm, Frypan's dramatics. Without Juno rolling her eyes at Minho's pathetic attempts to flirt with her. Without Thomas. But most of all, she felt like she had lost herself. WICKED's cruel tests had only served as a reminder that now, she was alone. As they stripped her bare of her fiery personality and left her raw, a shell of her old self, she had never felt more alone. Even with Aris and Sonya somewhere around the corner to offer their silent support, she felt suppressed.

There were many things that Leanne recognized now, but none of them should have held any familiarity to her; coldness of metal against her skin, the restraints that would keep her tied to the bed, the tears that would no longer fall anymore. The worst was the screams. The screams had become familiar to her, so much so that she recognized people by them. It shouldn't have been that way. She shouldn't have recognized there kids by their screams, or the bruises that littered their bodies or the fear that was painfully visible in their eyes. Leanne wanted it to stop. She wanted the suffering to stop, not only for herself but for these kids. She didn't care that it was all for a cure; if it had taken this long then maybe there wasn't one to be found.

It was too late for Leanne to escape and she knew that. A large part of her hoped that maybe her friends who escaped WICKED weren't trying to get them back. Maybe hope wasn't a good word though, for Leanne held no more hope. She didn't hope for better, or pray that they would someday escape. She had to be realistic; this was her life now. This was her life and it wouldn't change unless WICKED found their cure. Maybe, just maybe, then she could hope. But right now, she couldn't.

However, she knew her friends. She knew Thomas, and she knew he wouldn't give up. She knew Newt and Frypan would stick with him, and she knew that Juno would if Newt was doing so. Because being with WICKED, she had become observant. She had begun to notice the little details, and looking back on things there was so much stuff she missed. She hadn't realized how close Newt and June had grown quickly, or how much of a leader Thomas really was. She hadn't realized how much she would miss them either, because God, it was painful to be away.

However the time away gave her time to think —and at times overthink— about her feelings, and herself in general. But mostly her feelings, especially towards a certain brown haired boy. Like how the way his hands would graze the bare skin on her arms made her body heat up, or the way his eyes would roam her body for any injuries made her stomach flutter.

Leanne knew she had felt something for the boy when he arrived in the Glade. He was different from them, that much was easy to tell. However, she had pushed those feelings off. She couldn't have liked a boy she barely knew, could she? She used to blame it on the fact that she recognized him. He was familiar and so she felt drawn. But now, there was no way to blame her feelings on Thomas' familiarity. She had even tried to blame them on the fact that there weren't many boys to choose from — the Gladers had mostly all been like her brothers. Maybe she felt for Thomas because she thought no one else would come along. But again, those thoughts were quickly shut down. They were stopped because deep down, she knew. She knew that what she felt for him was real. She could remember the romance movies she and Teresa used to watch on Friday nights, the ones the two used to fawn over in hopes of someday having a love like that. A stupid love, where they could run through the fields in the morning and watch the stars at night. A love that would conquer all and never flicker. One that would have her feeling full and never make her doubt herself. But she was doubting herself. Not her feelings for him, but maybe her sanity. Because why — _how_ — could someone fall in love when the world around them was crumbling. She felt so selfish, loving Thomas, but with him it felt so right. That's how she knew that she found _that_ love, but hers was much more destructive.

**•••**

_Unlike the hot hands of the scientist from WICKED, his hands were cool on her burning skin_ _. They rested on her arms, his thumbs moving back and forth soothingly. His breath fanned across her forehead. They were so close that if Leanne were to lean forward an inch or two, his lips would be on her forehead._

_She wanted to tilt her head up, stand on the tip of her toes and move forward. So badly, she wanted to kiss him. However Leanne fought the urge. Now was not the time._

_She could barely even fight the urge. Listening to what her heart was telling her, Leanne tilts her head up, her eyes meeting his. She melts into his body and—_

The train shakes back and forth, waking Leanne from her dream. The chain hanging swings from side to side as the train moves. Leanne's hands and feet are bound with large metal cuffs, both attached to the chain.

She stretches her neck in anger. How could she have let herself fallen asleep? And of all things, dreamt? Her skin tingled where he had touched her in her dream, but she shakes it off. Now wasn't the time. It never was the time. Not in her mine, at least.

Leanne watches the ground in front of her, not moving or blinking. She was in a daze, her mind barely functioning. Her thoughts immediately pushed her dream back; she hadn't had one of her dreams in weeks. _Now wasn't the time._

No one in the rows in front of her spoke, nor the people in the rows behind her. The silence sat heavy on their tongues and raw in their throats; none of them had muttered a word in weeks. The only sound coming from their mouths was their screams, and that was taunting enough. Honestly, Leanne didn't think most of them would even be able to find the strength to speak. Their bodies had all been bruised and broken, and it wasn't the end of it yet. Their captors weren't anywhere near done with them yet, and Leanne could feel herself—

The sound of an engine revving breaks Lea from her daze.

Quickly looking up from her spot, she watches Aris and Sonya both snap their heads up, looking at each other. They had been lucky enough to be placed together. Aris then turns to look back at Leanne, his face hopeful.

She couldn't manage a smile. She couldn't even manage to look hopeful. She'd given up after the second month.

Figuring the engine belongs to a WICKED vehicle, Leanne ignores the sound. However, she's quickly proven wrong by the sound of gunshots outside.

The gunshots get the attention of some of the kids, but not all of them. When more gunshots sound, obviously coming from a much larger machine gun, everyone gets excited. Quiet whispers echo harshly in the metal container as the kids give in to hope.

Then, everyone's heads snap up towards the roof of the container as people run across it, stopping at the far end of the container, right over a grate that lets light in. They hear people outside yell as they try to do whatever the hell they're doing.

Leanne couldn't deny she was nervous. Maybe nervous in a good way, hoping for an escape after what seemed so long, although she'd never admit she was excited.

More gunshots are fired outside. Then, an explosion sounds out and everyone is pushed forwards in their seats. The gunshots stop, as well as the train's speed.

Leanne hears people more people outside, but ignores them as someone begins to pound on the outside of the metal container. "Minho? Leanne?"

Leanne's stomach jumps to her throat as she hears Thomas's unmistakable voice. Her throat is hoarse, and it hurts like hell, but she doesn't stop it from screaming at the top of her lungs as she shakes the metal chain in front of her.

As the pounding stops and is replaced by the sound of people moving on the roof, as well as someone trying to cut the metal outside, the kids inside the container quiet down. Leanne's heart beat picks up as gunshots start firing again. She hears people yelling for other people to go over the sound of bullets hitting metal.

Then, the sound of a berg flying over them drowns everything out. Instead of hearing of cries of fear like Leanne expects, they hear the people yell in happiness.

The sound of gunshots hitting metal increases rapidly, just like the sound of people yelling for other people to go.

Then, unexpectedly, the entire container is shaken. The swinging movement increases, and the gunshots stop. Then, Leanne can only come to one conclusion; they're in the air.

**•••**

The ride didn't feel long compared to the long amounts of hours WICKED had made them travel in the dark containers.

The kids chained to their seats spoke excitedly, but quietly. There was still fear in the air, which was understandable considering they did not even know who saved them. Most of them came to the conclusion that whoever it was couldn't be worse than WICKED. For six months, the organisation had ran tests on them, took blood, and constantly moved them around. And if they didn't obey the orders given, the guards would make them obey.

Though Leanne was weak from WICKED's torturing, she wasn't giving into the hope. Not fully. A small part of her, the old her, held hope, but only a sliver.

The landing was certainly not smooth. They were lowered slowly, but hit the ground with a large thud, making them fall forwards in their seats.

It didn't take long for someone to start trying to weld the door open. Her breathe is caught in her throat as she waits in anticipation. The impatience in the train car buzzes in the air, and all they can do is _wait_.

Sparks fly into the container, and the door quickly gives in. It's pushed open and the boy Leanne longed for so much at the beginning of being taken walks in. Thomas's eyes quickly roam over the teens, and stop of Aris and Sonya. He walks over to them quickly to ask if they're okay.

Behind him, Newt and Harriet walk in, both going to see Aris and Sonya.

Thomas doesn't see Leanne, but she doesn't blame him. She's placed in the back of the container. "Thomas?" She says, her throat so hoarse she can barely hear herself. "Thomas?" She tries again, louder than the first time.

He faintly hears her, and his eyes snap up to meet hers. Although she promised herself she would never, her eyes start to water. He smiles, and it's everything she's missed. Thomas rushes past the other kids, stopping only when he bends over to wrap his arms around her neck. Even though she can't stand or return the hug, she scoots to the edge of her seat to hide her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent that she would never admit to missing.

Thomas backs up from her to inspect her face. "Your bruise is still there?" He frowns, brushing his fingers over the bruise on her temple.

Leanne shakes her head. "They wouldn't let it go away."

As Thomas backs up, shocked, Newt takes his place hugging Leanne. "I missed you, Lea."

"I missed you too, Newt." She coughs lightly.

After getting the bolt cutters out and getting all the kids out from the chains, Leanne found herself reunited with Frypan, Juno, Brenda and Jorge.

The kids are given blankets and offered medical attention, and then they're crowded down into an area down near the water in front of Vince.

Leanne takes a blanket from one of the women offering them and wraps it around her shoulders. She walks over to Thomas, who stands further away, leaning up against the wall and watching as the kids gather in front of Vince.

"Hey." He smiles softly. She comes up to him and wraps her arms around his torso, hugging him from the side. He wraps his arm around her shoulders, tugging her further into his side. As Vince moves to help some of the kids, Thomas' eyes roam over all the kids crowded in front of him. "What did they do to you guys in there." He shakes his head, sighing.

"A lot of tests. Taking our blood, moving us around."

"Is your ankle better?" Thomas worries, watching the tired girl close her eyes as she leans more of her weight on him. She barely weighed anything now. Bones poked out of her body, giving her a more skeleton-like appearance.

"Yeah, that's one of the few things they fixed." She mutters, watching Vince as he waves the kids closer.

"Come on in, guys!" Vince stands in front of the kids, waiting for them to get closer. "All right, listen up." They sit down a few meters away from him. "I know you've all been through hell." He grimaces. "I wish I could say our troubles are over. But we're not through this yet." He paces in front of the group, and although Leanne doesn't move from her spot in Thomas' arms, she feels as if she should be sitting with those kids in front of Vince. They had gone through hell together. "WICKED's still out there. They're not giving up." She had grown familiar to many of their faces, although she did not know any of their names. "'Cause you got something they want." Vince points into the crowd. "They took you because you're immune to a plague that's wiping out the human race. And they think you're worth sacrificing to find a cure." Leanne couldn't help but wonder what it was worth, finding the cure. _What was fifty kids compared to fifty thousand people suffering? Were they worth sacrificing?_ She shrugs the thought off. "Well, I don't." Vince points to himself. "So in two days, when we get this tub of rust seaworthy, we're getting the hell outta here." Some of the kids in the crowd clap and cheer. "We're gonna go to a place where WICKED will never find you. A place you can start over. A place you can call home."

Leanne looks up at Thomas slowly. "Do you still try and talk to her sometimes?"

Thomas shakes his head quickly. "No." His answer was agressive, like he was defending himself.

"You don't even try?" She frowns.

"What do you want me to say? Yes?" Thomas snaps. "No. I don't Leanne. And I don't want to."

Thomas shrugs Leanne out of his arms. "I— I'm sorry." She sighs in defeat. She didn't mean to upset him this quickly, and she could feel the tears prickling her eyes. She was weak now. She was weak and soft and she hated it. "Are you okay?" She asks, almost hesitantly.

"I'm fine. I just need to take a walk." Thomas nods curtly before walking off quickly.

"Are you with me?" Vince says with passion as all the kids stand and cheer. He begins to gesture for some kids to help him, saying he needs volunteers to help start moving the crates. Leanne ignores him and moves towards Aris and Sonya, who speak to one of the women who was handing out the blankets.

"I'll get you guys a hut where you can get out of this sun." She lady smiles kindly, her eyes roaming over the three teens in pity.

They follow her through the unfamiliar camp and inside a clay building, where bowls of water with rags are waiting for them. Boxes of clutter fill the space, and Leanne finds herself sitting on one of the crates, wedged between Sonya and Harriet. Harriet gets up and leaves the room. They sit in silence until finally Sonya picks up one of the wet rags, gesturing for Aris to turn towards her so she can clean his cuts. Tired, she moves to lean against Sonya's back while the girl does her work on Aris. Leanne remembers those days clearly; the ones where Aris would fight back, and maybe she'd even join in when she was feeling strong enough. But those small riots ended quickly, usually with them covered in their own blood. The other days, she remembered less clearly. Those memories were foggy; drugs being injected into her, moving between trains and into small, windowless rooms where the only thing that was familiar to you was the screaming of the kids who were taken from their cells. _Those_ were the bad days, not the ones where she fought back. The worst days were where she was one of those kids screaming. Leanne stares at the floor, only snapping back into reality when Harriet waves something in front of her eyes; a cup filled to the brim with water. Leanne manages a small smile and accepts the cup gratefully, looking up to see Thomas, Brenda, and Newt in the room for the first time.

"Took you guys long enough to rescue us." Aris says jokingly.

"It's good to see you, too, bud." Thomas, who is crouched right in front of Aris, says, patting him on the knee. "So what happened?"

"I fought back." Aris answers shortly. He glances over at Leanne and sends her a small, pitiful smile. "Tried to, anyway."

"You're lucky you found us at all." Sonya shakes her head. "They had us on the move a lot. It felt like something big was happening."

Newt looks towards Sonya. "Any idea where they were heading?"

"All I know is they kept talking about a city."

The teens look between themselves, and Harriet speaks up first. "I didn't think there were any cities left."

"That's because there aren't. Not still standing, anyway." Brenda adds.

Leanne disagrees with Brenda, but doesn't speak up. WICKED has a ton of ressources, and she doesn't doubt that it would be enough to build a city, or maybe even protect one.

Thomas' eyes roam over Aris, Sonya and stop on Leanne. They're filled with confusion, and Leanne knows just what he's wondering. She's just too scared for when he hears the answer. "Okay, wait. What about Minho?" Leanne's throat closes up. "Why wasn't he on the train?"

Leanne has to look away from Thomas' prying eyes as Aris opens his mouth to answer. "I'm sorry, Thomas." Aris stops, delaying the inevitable truth. "He was."


	24. Lion's Den

**THE WORLD AROUND** Leanne slowly begins to grow dark as she sits on the rocks, watching the water hit the side of the boat over and over again. The sound of the waves sooth her, keeping her from unhappy memories. Her mind is blank.

Juno comes to sit on the large rocks beside Leanne. "I'm sorry I didn't come see you earlier." The brunette sighs, shaking her head. "I guess I was just overemotional."

A long silence sits between the two of them, although it's not uncomfortable. Leanne finally breaks that silence. "You like him." She says bluntly.

Juno stutters over her words. "I— well— what?"

Leanne rolls her eyes. "Well you have feelings for Newt."

The brunette nods, turning to look out at the water. "Yeah... I mean... I'm not really trying to stop them anymore." She sighs. "I could say the same about you, though. You like Thomas."

Leanne smiles softly. "I don't like Thomas, June." She takes in a large breath of air before releasing it. "I love him."

Juno turns her head to look at Leanne so quickly she gives herself whiplash. "Are you sure?" Juno frowns, rubbing her neck. "You're not just desperate for love, or something? Cause Newt told me about how you liked a guy named Gally in your Maze and—"

Leanne interrupts her friend quickly. "Urgh of course Newt would tell you." She groans. "Whatever. It's not like that."

"Whatever it's like, you should be careful." June nods. "We've still got a war to fight."

The crunch of someone's footsteps makes both of them quiet down. Their both watch as the figure gets closer, finally close enough for them to realize it's Thomas. Junie gets up, smiling. "I'm going to go see Reese and Kiko."

Leanne watches as the brunette walks away, internally wanting to scream at her to stop and come back. But she doesn't, she sits quietly as Thomas takes June's spot beside her.

"How are you feeling?" He asks her, watching her carefully.

Avoiding the eye contact, Leanne shrugs. "Good."

Thomas shakes his head. He could tell she was lying. That was something that WICKED had taken away from her; she couldn't hide anymore. They peeled back all her layers until she lay there, a gritty personality and a lifeless body. "Don't lie to me." He takes her hand in his. "I want the _truth_."

Leanne can't hold back her tears any longer, and begins to cry. She was not quiet, and she did not try to hide her sobs like she did in the small cells. She didn't need to anymore: the ocean was there to drown the sound. She didn't need to wipe her own tears anymore: Thomas was there to pick up the broken pieces. Leanne has once told herself that she'd never let someone else put her back together, that she would have to fix herself. But now, she was so broken she wasn't even sure if she could fix herself, let alone someone else do it. But maybe she could let Thomas try.

He wipes her tears softly. "Hey, shh, it's okay." He pulls her into the warmth of his body. "It's okay to not be okay."

Leanne shakes her head against his chest. "I have to be okay, Thomas." She sighs. "I have to be okay for Minho."

Thomas pulls her away from his chest and looks down at her face, lit up in the moonlight. "But you don't have to." He whispers, staring down at her face. "Because we're all here to take care of you." Leanne nods slowly, not breaking eye contact with him.

Their faces were so close together. He could blink and his eyelashes would brush up against her cheek. His lips were so close. This time, neither of them could resist the urge.

Thomas moves first. It's just a tentative peck. He is scared that Leanne will reject him. However, Leanne does far from that.

She raises her hand to rest it on his neck, pulling him closer for a deeper kiss. It's slow and sweet. Thomas' hands rested on above her waist, whilst Leanne's hands move to each of his shoulders. His kiss is so soft, like he's scared that he'll do something wrong. Because he is. Thomas is scared that he will hurt her. The shell of a person she is now seems so fragile, that Thomas can't help but worry with his lips pressed up against her own.

She was the first to pull away, but only for air. "Sorry." He mumbles, looking down at her.

"Don't be." She exhales. Her hands slide down his arms, only stopping when he takes ahold of her hands. "You know, you look different." She says to him.

"How's that?" Thomas smiles.

Her eyes roam his face. "Just that you look older." She returns his smile with one of her own. "More leader-like."

He lets go of her left hand, moving his to push some of her hair behind her ear. "You look different too."

"Yeah?"

He nods. "Yeah." Thomas opens his mouth, then closes it. _You smile less,_ is what he wanted to say. Instead he smiles. "Your hair has grown." _You're thinner_. "And it's a darker shade." _You have more scars._ "You look older too." _You look more tired. You're paler. When you speak, your voice comes out quieter. You don't look as confident._

But Thomas would never say that. He couldn't, because telling her this would bring out the inevitable truth, that really was broken, and beyond repair.

**•••**

Thomas slams the map onto the table. "There, that's it." He points to a circle on the map. "It's a few hundred miles." He looks back down at the map. "Based on the railways, everything that Aris told us, that's gotta be where they're headed. That's where they're taking Minho." Thomas looks at Vince, and only Vince. He knows that the older man is going to be hard to convince. "We take everyone who can fight. Follow the roads where we can. We can make it back within a week."

Vince scoffs. "A week?" He shakes his head. "It took us six months to get here. We got over 100 kids here now." Leanne watches Vince carefully from beside Newt. She can tell that he won't agree with Thomas, no matter how much the teen tries to get him to. Vince isn't thinking about one boy, he's thinking about all of them. And if Leanne weren't as close to Minho as she is, she'd be thinking the same way. "We can't just hang out here forever after what we just pulled. You wanna wander off to some random point on the map." He jabs his finger towards the circle on the map. "You don't even know what's there."

"I do." Jorge steps further into the room. "It's been a few years, but I've been there." He nods. "The Last City. That's what WICKED called it." Leanne's eyes flicker between Jorge and Vince, and from his posture she can tell that Vince still doesn't give a shit. "It was their whole base of operations. If that city is still standing, that's the last place you wanna go, hermano." Vince finally nods his head, agreeing with Jorge. "That's the lion's den."

"It's nothing we haven't done before." Thomas speaks back to them.

Leanne almost rolls her eyes, but stops herself. Thomas is so naive; he just want to jump right back into it. They did save plenty of kids, however they had a ton of planning. If they were to go in to save Minho now, it would be with a half cocked plan. If her time with the organization taught her anything, it was that they were always ready. WICKED always had a backup plan.

"Yeah, with months of planning, and reliable information, the element of surprise, none of which we have now."

"Vince, I've thought this through. Would you just hear me out?"

"The last time we went off half-cocked... I lost everything." Vince slams his hand on the table. "You remember that?"

"The last time we went off half-cocked, it's because we were ambushed. We didn't even know they were coming." Juno snaps, stepping forward to take part in the conversation.

"Well they'll know we're coming. It wouldn't be a surprise." Vince sighs, shaking his head. "Look, I know it's Minho. All right? But you can't ask me to put those kids on the line for one man." He shakes his head again. "I won't do it."

"This isn't just Minho." Juno snaps again, taking another step towards the table in the middle. "You said it yourself, we've got over a hundred kids here now. And we do because we went to get Aris, and Sonya and Minho." Leanne watches the girl roll her shoulders back with determination; the six months had changed June too, and Leanne could tell. "It isn't just Minho." She says softly this time. "We could help more kids, just like today."

The airwaves on the radio behind Newt begin to make louder noises, and quickly enough they can hear the voices clearly. "Searching the grid now. A is completed. Scanning B-sector now."

"Shit." People exclaim. Leanne watches as Jorge runs to pull a large lever down, leaving them in darkness. She turns to see Newt jogging out a door and into the darkness, and she follows him.

They stand between the shelter of two buildings and watch as two large bergs fly over the city not far from them. "How often does this happen?" Leanne breathes out.

"Not often." Newt shakes his head, not tearing his eyes off of the aircrafts. "They've never gotten this close before, though."

As they get further away, and soon enough out of eyesight, Newt turns to Leanne. "Lea, you know Thomas. He isn't going to give a shit about what Vince says." Leanne nods in agreement. "He's going to go after Minho."

Frypan comes up from behind them. "I was thinking the same damn thing." He nods, clapping Newt on the back.

They watch each other in silence for a minute. "Okay." Leanne nods. "I say we don't tell anyone; not even Junie." She nods. "We go pack out bags quickly, and put them into the first truck lined up in the warehouse."

"Then we wait for him?" Frypan asks.

Newt shakes his head. "We have to be quiet. No one can see us."

"Okay, let's go." Leanne manages a small smile. "And Newt?" Newt stops and turns to Leanne. "Make sure June doesn't see you. She'd want to come."

**•••**

Leanne has found it surprisingly easy to steal medical supplies from one of the cement buildings. No one would expect anyone to steal anything and run off, so no one was keeping watch.

She had found a bag and a change of clothes waiting for her where she was supposed to sleep, and was grateful for it. June had been kind enough to leave a pair of beige trousers, similar to the ones she wore when they first left WICKED, and a blue sweater. The bag had been less easy to fill; she'd gotten lost multiple times jogging through the dark camp. But finally, she found herself laying on the back seat of the vehicle, counting down the minutes until Thomas arrived.

"What if he doesn't come here?" Frypan asks. "What if he doesn't even leave at all and we're just wasting our time staying up."

"If that's so, I'm going to smack someone _so_ hard." Leanne sighs. "I haven't even slept in a nice bed in so long."

"Shh." Newt whispers. "I think I hear someone." It was about time too; they had been waiting a while and Leanne was sure that it was sometime in the early hours of the morning. Newt stays outside the car, watching the figure climb the steps into the warehouse. Surely enough, Thomas steps inside. "Where do you think you're going then?" He flicks the light switch on for the lamp on the table.

Leanne hears Thomas sigh. "Newt..."

"Don't be a twat about it." The boy interrupts him. "I'm already in."

"No. No, not this time." Leanne can hear Thomas approaching the car as Newt looks down at her through the open window. He throws the bag down onto her stomach and an evil smirk tugs at his lips. Leanne grimaces as she shoves the bag onto the floor, biting her lip to not groan. All of this happens while Thomas argues about why Newt shouldn't come.

"Well, you'll need all the help you can get then, won't you?" Frypan opens his door, turning the inside light of the vehicle on as Leanne sits up on the seat. Thomas scoffs, shaking his head as the corner of his lips lift a bit.

"Well, we started this together." Newt says slowly. "May as well end it that way, too."

"Okay." Thomas' eyes roam over the three of them, fully knowing that even if he did say no, they would follow him. They would never let him do this alone. "Let's go get him back."


	25. A City of Glass

**ALTHOUGH THE DRIVE** was bumpy, Leanne had managed to sleep until well after the bright sun had risen.

The road they followed was leading them right to the mountains, and according to the map the city was on the other side of them. Luckily for them, they had not ran into anyone so far.

Frypan drove for the most part, continuously having to tell them that they could sleep and that he would stay awake. At one point during the night Newt had insisted taking over driving so Frypan could get some shut eye, but Newt was a terrible driver so Frypan sat in the front seat, teaching him instead of sleeping.

During all this, Leanne had been unable to sleep. She'd kept a tight grip on her door handle, scared that Newt would crash them at any second. She could see Thomas looking over at her every couple minutes as Newt's driving didn't slow.

When he looked over at her this time, Leanne was quick to make eye contact. "I know, I'm not pretty to look at, bruises and all." She grimaces, gesturing to the bruise on the side of her right eye.

Thomas rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "Shut your dramatic ass up." Leanne raises her eyebrows at him. "I'm just worried you're going to throw up. You look a little green."

Leanne smirks. "Oh, that's just the discolouring from the bruises."

Thomas rolls his eyes again, looking away from her. "Get some sleep."

Not long after that, Newt and Thomas switched spots for driving. Leanne had fallen asleep quickly after, as Thomas wasn't all that bad at driving. She was completely out and oblivious to anything happening when Frypan began driving again, although the drive was still a lot smoother.

She was woken up when the sun was too bright for her eyes to block out. She just wished that for once it was a cloudy day, but Mother Nature would not comply.

Instead of sleeping, she watched the same scenery roll by for two straight hours until they came across a sign in bold black letters.

MANDATORY INFECTION CHECK: 2 MILES AHEAD

"You think they're still there?" Leanne asks curiously, sitting up.

Frypan shrugs. "We'll just have to find out."

The road winds up a hill, and multiple cars are parked on the sides of the road. A large metal building covered in moss appears with no sign of anyone. Fences with barbed wire surround the area, but there are multiple spots where the fence is cut open. "Well, I think your question has been answered." Newt says, eyeing the tunnel they're driving up to.

Frypan parks the car a good ten meters from the tunnel. The gates to the tunnel are wide open, and immediately Leanne knows that there's bound to be cranks in there.

Slowly, they each get out of the car. It was obvious none of them wanted to go in there, but it was the fastest way to get past the mountains. They walk a a little closer to the tunnel, but stop when they're about half-way there.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt frowns, pointing at the dark tunnel. Leanne shrugs at Newt when Thomas doesn't answer, and continues to stare down at the map in his hands. "I don't wanna come across as too negative, but I mean if I was a Crank, that's exactly where I would be."

Thomas stares down at the map for another second before looking up at the tunnel. "I don't think we have much of a choice." It was obvious he didn't want to go in there either, but he wasn't showing it as much as the other teens.

"All right." Newt starts to walk back to the car. "I get shotgun."

Leanne begins to walk back to the car with him, sighing loudly. "I sure as hell don't want fucking shotgun." They stare at her weirdly. "That's like a front row seat for the shit that's about to go down in there."

Frypan rolls his eyes dramatically. "We don't know that any shit is going to go down in there." No one replies to his remark. "Right?"

Leanne gets into the back seat, joined by Thomas. Frypan takes the wheel and takes his sweet time starting the car again. Then, slowly, he begins to drive. Darkness surrounds them and it's even bumpier in the tunnel than it was on the road. They drive through large pot holes, splashing water onto the sides of the car.

As the follow the winding tunnel, they come across piles of cars left of the sides of the tunnel. "Well, here we go." Frypan clutches the wheel tighter.

Newt turns his flashlight on, flashing it onto the sides where the headlights don't light up. "Just take it nice and slow."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Frypan mumbles, coming to a stop when they see a crank up ahead.

Leanne shakes her head, pulling her window up so it's closed all the way and locking her door. "See! Shit is going to go down!" She whispers, leaning in between the two front seats.

Thomas copies her, leaning forwards as well. "It's okay." He places his hand on Leanne's knee comfortingly. "It's just one, so take it slow, go around him." Thomas says calmly. "We'll be fine."

"Take it slow." Frypan whispers to himself, turning back to the wheel. "Take it slow." He repeats.

Leanne and Thomas both lean back in their seats. Out of the corner of her eye, Leanne sees movement outside Thomas' window. But it still startles her when the crank, once a woman, start knocking on the window. "Please. Please. Help me. Please. Please! Let me in." She repeats over and over again.

Leanne jumps up against Thomas when a man begins to copy the woman's gestures, banging on her window. Thomas and Leanne squish to both sit closer to the middle of the seat.

Cranks begin to bang on all their windows, all screaming for help.

"Okay. Fry, we gotta go." Newt shakily lets out.

"Please! Open the door." Leanne hears a woman say, and she can't help it when her heart drops to her stomach. Although she knew it wasn't, the woman sounded so much like her mother; pleading and screaming to be let out of her bedroom.

Leanne could feel all the memories she was missing rushing back to her like a flash. "You need to go right now!" She yells at Frypan. "Just floor it!" She pushes Frypan forward in his seat, causing him to lean onto the gas peddle.

"Leanne!" Frypan yells at her as they hit a crank in front of them. The man manages to hold onto the car as Frypan drives forward. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The crank smashes his fist against the glass, cracking it on his first try. Frypan has to swerve the car multiple times to get around the cars, all while trying to get the crank off.

"Come on, Fry, shake him!" Thomas yells at him from the back seat.

"I'm trying!"

Leanne can feel a thick substance travelling up her throat as Frypan swerves the car. Reaching to the floor and picking up an empty plastic bag, Leanne throws up into it. The boys all let out a ring of "ews" as Leanne wipes her mouth with her sleeve.

"Hang on!" Frypan tells as he spots a tow truck on its side. He drives closer to it, and the crane part of the truck hits the crank off the car.

"Sorry." Leanne calls out to the boys, sniffling a little.

Frypan turns his head to look at Leanne. "It's fine Lea—"

"Frypan, watch out!" Thomas yells, pointing in front of them. The all turn and see a cluster of barrels sitting on the left of the car. Frypan tries to swerve the car, but still ends up hitting the barrels. Leanne holds onto the handle beside her for dear life as the car shakes. In Frypan's attempt to save them the vehicle turns onto its side, and then onto its roof.

Leanne's unable to move for the first few seconds. Her eyes stay glued shut, and oddly enough it makes her think back to when she was first in the Box, being sent up into the Glade. But the loud noises had stopped, although she could hear the cranks howling in the distance.

"Thank God I made you put your seatbelts on." Leanne grumbles.

"Everyone okay?" Newt asks.

"My hand. My hand." Frypan says. Leanne can't the boys in front of her, she can barely even see Thomas beside her. Her eyes are filled with blood, and she can taste it in her mouth.

"Shit." She mumbles to herself, unbuckling her seatbelt and falling onto the ground bellow her. She was thanking the God she didn't believe for the fact that she'd tied the bag she had thrown up in, because being covering in vomit would make the situation even worse.

Beside her, Thomas kicks his window open and turns around to reach for her hand. "Okay, Leanne. I'm going to pull you out."

She nods and takes his hand, pushing against her door to slide towards Thomas. He pulls her out of the vehicle and she sits up.

From the inside of the car, Frypan tries to push his door open. Thomas tried to help from the outside but it doesn't work. "Fry, go around."

Leanne gets up and picks the flashlight up, turning it on to make things easier. She walks over to Newt's side, where his door opens easily. "You okay, Newt?" She asks.

"Yeah, I think so."

A scream erupts from from down the tunnel, but not very far away. It nearly gives Leanne a heart attack as she raises the flashlight to see the cranks getting close.

"Frypan, I think we gotta move." Thomas yells at Frypan, who's nearly out of the car but then turns back around.

"You think?" Leanne screeches. "Fry, move your ass out of the car!"

"Now!" Newt yells at him.

"Wait a minute!" Frypan yells back at them, struggling with something inside the car.

"We don't have a minute!"

"Right now!"

The crank is close now, nearly two meters away. Frypan pulls himself out of the car and whips around with the gun, shooting the crank down quickly.

"Nice shot, Fry." Thomas nods.

"Thanks."

More cranks begin to howl in the dark, the sound of the shot probably attracting them. Leanne moves the flashlight to point up at the numerous cranks coming their way.

"Okay. We gotta go." They turn around and begin to sprint, but Frypan doesn't run as fast as them, turning around to shoot a few cranks. "Go, go! Fry, come on, let's go!"

"Fry, let's move, let's go!"

Frypan spins around to catch up to them. "Go! Go! Go!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Leanne stops at the front of the group and Newt runs into her back, grabbing onto her shoulders to keep from falling. She points the flashlight ahead of them and widens her eyes as more cranks come into view.

"Fry, you got any left?"

"Yeah!" Frypan turns to start shooting at the cranks.

"Okay. This way, this way!" Leanne turns with Frypan to help keep a light on the cranks.

"Okay, Fry. Other way, other way!"

Frypan turns to shoot at the other side again, but I my shoots once before it stop. "I'm out! Shit!"

The cranks on either sides of them begin together closer, screaming and howling at them. Before Leanne can even begin to think it's the end, a large vehicle comes crashing through the cranks from the direction they came in.

The car stops in front of them and Brenda stands up in the open roof. "Hey, get in!"

Newt hops into the car first, and Leanne is pushed in by Frypan behind her. "Go, Jorge, go!" Thomas yells when he's in.

Jorge presses on the gas, ramming through any remaining cranks. The end of the tunnel comes into view and the speed out. Leanne rests her body, letting out a long breath.

"I'm impressed!" Jorge says from the driver's seat. "You guys almost lasted a whole day."

Leanne shifts beside Frypan so she's in a more comfortable position. Newt looks back at her and opens his mouth, but she smiles. "I'm good." She mouths. He nods and they both look up at Brenda and Juno, who share the passenger seat uncomfortably. Brenda glares at them as she shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't wanna bring you guys into this."

Jorge looks through the rear view mirror, just as unimpressed with Thomas' excuse as Brenda, and Juno turns her head around to scoff at Thomas.

Frypan leans forward between Newt and Thomas. "I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us."

Brenda smiles. "You're welcome."

Jorge shakes his head, glancing at them every couple seconds through the rear view mirror. "Hey, don't get your hopes up." They watch him speak. "That checkpoint back there, that was the city's last defense. If that was overrun, chances are the city is, too."

Leanne struggles to sit up straight beside Frypan, and leans to hold onto the window. When she looks out at the landscape below them, her jaw drops.

"Yeah, unless they figured out some other way to keep the Cranks out." Newt says, spotting the city too.

As the rest of them turn to look outside, Jorge slams on the breaks. They all hop out of the vehicle, turning to look at the city below them.

Bigger skyscrapers stood in the middle of the city, surrounded by other smaller ones. Then, surrounding the glass city, was one continuous round wall. It had been built around the thriving part of the city, cutting out the parts that was obviously going to shit.

"Funny... Spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out, and now we wanna break back in." Newt shakes his head.

From behind them, Frypan adds. "Yeah. It's hilarious."

Leanne scoffs. "It doesn't matter. He's in there." She mumbles.

"How do you know for sure?" Brenda asks her quietly as Thomas questions Jorge.

Leanne looks over at the girl before looking back out at the city. "Because I was supposed to be there too."

Brenda pats Leanne on the back, attempting to be comforting but just being awkward.

"Those walls are new." Jorge sighs. "I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything."

Pulling her hand from Leanne's back, Brenda begins to walk back towards the car. "Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here. Let's go!"

As Newt steps up to Thomas, Leanne follows. "You really think he's in there?" Newt asks.

"I guess we'll find out." 

Newt looks out at the enclosed city. "You know she's gonna be there, too."

In the back of her mind, Leanne knew that eventually, she'd cross paths with Teresa. It was bound to happen, but she dreaded that moment. And she wasn't sure if it was because it would mean Teresa was safe, or that Leanne wanted revenge, but a part of her even hoped her sister would be in there. She did not want to go into the city, for she felt it would be like walking right back into WICKED's hands, and she wouldn't be able to live if that happened to her again. She wouldn't even be able to live if it happened to anyone she knew, because if she knew that they were treated the same way she and the other teens that had been captured had been treated, or worse, it would be a living hell. Just the memories of the torture could bring Leanne down, and she wasn't sure if she was strong enough to face them again.


	26. The Outskirts

**ONCE THE GROUP** had reached the outskirts of the city, they decided to ditch the car. The streets were already crowded, and they didn't want to draw attention to themselves.

Leanne was finding it hard to keep her eyes on one thing. Some people were laying on the sides of the street, others selling objects or food while some even piled body bags into the back of their truck.

Leanne walks beside Newt, keeping a tight grip on his hand so she doesn't get lost in the crowd. "This place has really gone through hell." Jorge says as they weed their way throw the bustling crowds.

"We just gotta stay together."

Behind them, someone speaks throw a microphone. "We are the voice of the voiceless!" Multiple men with guns and masks covering their faces are standing in a truck, driving up the street. "They hide behind their walls, thinking they can keep the cure for themselves, while they watch the rest of us wither and rot!" The crowd around them parts for the truck and cheers as they pass. "But there are more of us than there are of them. And I say, we rise up and take back what is ours! Let's bring back a victory!"

"I don't like how this is looking." Leanne shudders. "Something bad is going to happen."

The group moves quickly, following multiple people through alleyways towards the wall. People riot, chanting for WICKED to let them in. Some people hold signs while others stand to the side and watch. Their group pushes their way threw the crowd to get up closer.

"What the hell did we get ourselves into?" Frypan says.

Glancing around, Leanne sees some of the same men from the truck standing around the edge of the rioting. "Something doesn't feel right, Newt." Leanne rugs on his hand like a child. "This really isn't right." She continues. "We need to find another way!" She turns back, seeing the same man from the truck coming up behind them. "Newt, I think we're being followed."

This time, Newt listens to her. Glancing over his shoulder quickly, he sees the man as well. Then, a couple meters away to their right, two men also from the truck walk at the same pace as them, glancing over at the group every couple seconds. "I think you're right." They quicken their pace to catch up to Jorge and Thomas at the front.

"Hey, guys, we gotta go now." Newt gets their attention. "Look." The look around them, seeing the masked men getting closer.

Jorge pulls his gun out but loud noises come from the wall behind them. Everyone quiets down and directs their attention to the wall if it wasn't already there. Then, the large machine guns on the top of the wall begin to shift so they're pointing in their direction. "Let's go, let's go!" People around them yell, starting to run.

"We gotta get out of here!"

Then without warning the first missile is fired, landing not far in front of them. Leanne is shoved forward by whoever is behind her, running away as more missiles fall. She can barely hear anything over the explosions and the screaming. Dust and sand are sent up into the air, filling up Leanne's lungs and blocking her vision. She runs behind Frypan, keeping up with him as her life depends on it. Without warning Frypan turns down an alley. Leanne slips as she slows to turn into the alley, but catches herself on a wall and doesn't let the little mishap slow her down. Behind her, the missiles don't stop but neither does she. They come out behind a building, but Leanne can't register anything before a pair of strong hands grab onto her, tugging her up and off her feet. Leanne can barely even start to kick and squirm before she's shoved into the back of a van alongside Brenda and Thomas. She sits between the two, and all three of them stare at the three men in masks who sit across from them. When the three make eye, Thomas and Brenda both wondering if they can take down the guards, Leanne shakes her head.

Although Leanne knew the drive wasn't long, it still felt like it was. There were no windows, so they didn't know what to expect when the van began to slow down. When it did finally come to a stop, the door was opened from the outside immediately. "Get out!" The man says forcefully.

Leanne slides out of the van and watches as the second van pulls up. The van doesn't stop shaking when it breaks, and they can hear Jorge yelling from the outside.

The doors open and one of their kidnappers flies out of the van and onto the ground. Jorge jumps out and onto him. "Where is she, you son of a bitch?" He punches him. Juno follows Jorge out of the van, sending a pleading look towards Brenda.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Thomas and Brenda run towards Jorge to stop him as Leanne tries to move towards Newt. One of the man grab onto her, pushing her back and away as he holds a gun to her.

"I'm right here. I'm right here!" Brenda yells at him, making him stop and turn to her.

"Everybody relax." One of the masked men says. "We're all on the same side here."

Leanne eyes the gun with a dirty look. "Don't point that thing at me."

"What do you mean same side?" Thomas turns away from the guard who pushed him away and towards the one who spoke. "Who the hell are you?"

The masked man looks down, then looks back over at the group. He reaches up and takes his mask off, throwing it to the ground. "Hey, Greenie."

Leanne's jaw drops and for a second she thinks she's hallucinating. That can't be Gally. She can't believe it. She glances over at Newt, just as wide-eyed as him.

"Gally?" Thomas stands there for a second, then launches himself at Gally, pulling his fist back to punch him hard in the face.

"Woah!" Although Leanne wanted to do the same as Thomas, she rushes past the crowd of people and grabs onto Thomas' hand before he can punch Gally again. She crouches down beside them.

"Stop, Thomas." The brunette says, surprisingly calm. "Stop."

"He killed Chuck." Thomas doesn't look away from Gally, so Leanne doesn't remove her tight grip from his hand.

"Yeah, I know, I was covered in his blood." She swallows down her fears. "And he held me at gunpoint." She says quietly. "But he was also stung and out of his mind, which was also my fault." Thomas looks up into Leanne's eyes. "Just stop, Thomas. Calm down."

Thomas gets up and backs off of Gally quickly, and Leanne moves to stand beside Brenda and June.

Gally stands up and rubs his jaw where Thomas punched him. "Kinda had that coming." His eyes wander over the group. "Anybody else? Fry? Lea? Newt?"

"You know this guy?" Jorge asks.

Frypan speaks for them. "He was an old friend."

Newt watches Gally weirdly, almost as if he would disappear at any second. It felt unreal. "How? How is this possible?" He asks. "We watched you die."

"No, you left me to die." Gally shakes his head. "And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now." His eyes wander over the group, lingering for a second longer on Leanne. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Minho. WICKED has him here." Newt explains shortly.

"We're looking for a way in." Leanne adds, not taking her glare off of Gally, nor softening it.

"I can help with that." Gally says. "Follow me." Gally turns to begin to walk away, but he stops when Thomas speaks.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Thomas doesn't move.

"Suit yourself. But I can get you through those walls."

After a moment of contemplation, Newt moves first. The rest of the group follow not far behind him. "So, past beef with this guy?" Brenda asks Leanne quietly as Jorge joins her side to listen in. 

"In the Maze, there was a big separation about leaving. About following Thomas, really." Leanne explains to her. "Gally didn't think we should. I, well, they were all my friends." Leanne looks over at Gally, who leads the group. "Gally and I left together, not long after Thomas and them. But he got stung while I was opening the door." Brenda watches her, intrigued. "We caught up to them, and Gally was out of his mind. He was going to shoot Thomas, but a younger boy, Chuck, was shot instead." Leanne shakes her head. "He was this sweet little boy that Thomas first became friends with in the Maze. Not a single person in the Glade disliked him, though they weren't always nice to him."

"And Gally?" Jorge frowns. "How did he supposedly die."

"Minho threw a spear at him. It went right through his chest." Leanne shrugs slowly. "I though he stopped breathing, but I guess we were too preoccupied with Chuck to check."

At the front of the group, Gally stops in front of a hallway. "Listen, uh, he doesn't get a lot of visitors. So, let me do the talking. All right?" Gally nods, turning down the hall. "And try not to stare."

Leanne wonders what Gally means by that, but doesn't ponder on it too long. They follow Gally into the large room and down the stairs. They're led towards a man trimming a rose bush. "Gally, glad to see you made it back." The man turns to look at them, but they can't see his features. For a split second, Leanne's back in that dark bedroom where her mother tore her eyes out, then she's back in the room, watching the man carefully.

"It was a slaughter." Gally says shortly to Lawrence. "There's nothing we could do against those guns."

The man cuts the rose off of its stem. "No, but they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung." He raises it to his nose, and Leanne suddenly becomes aware that there is no outline of a nose where it should be. "Now, who are these people? Why are they here?"

Thomas steps forward. "We need to get into WICKED." He glances over at Gally. "Gally said you can get us through the walls."

Lawrence looks up at them before back down at the roses in front of him. "Gally should know better than to make promises that he can't keep." The man grabs onto his IV and walks towards them. "Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting inside WICKED is impossible."

"There might be a way now." Gally says. "But it doesn't work without Thomas."

"Is that so?" Lawrence takes a few steps into the light to reveal his face. "Do you know what I am... Thomas?" Half his face was covered in veins, poking out similarly to some cranks. Where his nose should have been was an empty hole, and his eyes were sunken into his face. Lawrence gets close to Thomas' face. "I am a businessman." He steps back. "Which means that I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?"

Leanne can't help but admire Lawrence. He was certainly fighting the virus, feeding himself a partial cure through the IV to buy himself some time. It obviously wasn't _the cure_ , but it was working for the meantime.

"Cause I can help you." Thomas speaks slowly to Lawrence. "You see, if you can get me through those walls... I can get you what you need."

"What is it that you think I need?"

"Time. Every last drop."

Lawrence's eyes roam over the group. "Is that what I need?"

Leanne can barely hold still now. She's itching to get out of this room, and she's scared Lawrence can tell that she is. He reminds her too much of her mother. At the beginning, the virus had only affected her mother physically, changing her appearance. She had still been able to care for her daughters. Lawrence was in that early stage; he had full control over his mind, but not his body.

Lawrence's eyes find their way back from a fidgeting Leanne to Thomas. "WICKED has something we both want." Thomas says.

Lawrence considers his options for a moment. "I'll tell you what. Two can go for now. But I get to pick who." His eyes wander over the group. "The rest stay down here with me. Just a little insurance to make sure you find your way back. We have a deal?" Thomas glances back at the group, before looking up at Lawrence. "Gally, show 'em the way."


	27. From Sisters to Strangers

**IT DIDN'T TAKE** much for Leanne to convince Lawrence to let her go with the boys. "I'm tiny, no one will see me." She shrugged. "Plus, I've gotta make sure they don't kill each other."

"You think you can stop them from killing each other?" Lawrence smiles down at the girl.

Leanne returns the smile. "I think I can do anything." Well, she may have been exaggerating, but if there was one thing she could do, it was have control over those boys. When Newt had pointed it out in the Maze after she had gotten Ben to calm down, Leanne had taken a step back, and realized he was right. She did have every one of them wrapped around her finger. Of course, the more she thought about it the less she liked the idea of it; but that didn't mean she wouldn't use it to her advantage.

Lawrence had just laughed and nodded his head. "Sure, little lady, if you think you can handle yourself."

That's why Leanne found herself now climbing down the ladder after Gally, who waited at the bottom with a flashlight. He goes to grab her waist but she swats him off. "I _can_ handle myself, thank you." She says, jumping off the ladder.

When Thomas and Newt are down, they begin to walk through the sewers. Water ran down the walls and under their feet. "This is gross." Newt scrunches his face up. "Another dingy tunnel, huh?" He scoffs, looking back at Leanne and Thomas. "You guys are always looking for trouble."

"Why did you come if it was really going to gross you out?" Leanne squints, watching her footing so she doesn't trip.

"To make sure you three don't kill each other, obviously."

Leanne rolls her eyes, stopping when Gally turns the flashlight off the ground and onto the wires on the wall. He turns on a switch and the lights on the walls light up. He begins to walk forward. "Stay with me. We got a ways to go."

Gally wasn't lying when he said they had a long walk ahead of them. Leanne had lost track of time after about twenty minutes.

Gally and Newt did most of the talking. Well, mostly Newt with Gally commenting or asking questions between. Newt explained what had happened after they got out of the Maze, from escaping WICKED with Juno and Aris, to finding Thomas and Brenda again and then losing Minho and Leanne.

Thomas and Leanne walked quietly side by side. They hadn't had a moment to talk alone for a while, and even now with Newt and Gally talking a few meters ahead of them, they weren't alone.

But in Leanne's mind, this was the closest they were going to get to being alone for a while, probably. Maybe this was the last time they were going to get time alone together. Neither of them knew what was coming. Leanne could see Thomas sneaking glances at her from the corner of her eye, but she ignored them until they really became annoying. Instead of saying something, she took his hand in hers, holding it tightly. It wasn't the perfect moment, down in the sewers with Gally and Newt talking ahead of them, but when would they actually get the perfect moment? Leanne had given up on that thought a while ago.

Neither said anything; the simple gesture was enough. It was enough for both of them to know the other was there to support them, that they wouldn't have to face WICKED alone. Neither of them even knew for sure how the other one felt, but they weren't worrying in this moment. They were just enjoying it while it lasted. Enjoying it until it was time to go back to the real world — their dying world.

**•••**

The streets were crowded with people, which made it easy to walk around without seeming suspicious.

Some people walked with masks over their faces, others not bothering. Leanne guessed that if you were lucky enough to live inside the walls of the city you didn't have to worry all that much.

They turn left and follow Gally up a flight of stairs, giving them a better view of the city. Leanne couldn't contain her shock; skyscrapers of all heights, all lit up could be seen from every direction. They all stop at the view.

Newt stands in awe. "This is a long way from the Glade."

A bell rings through the speakers of the city. "Fifteen minutes to mandatory curfew. Please proceed home in an orderly fashion. Remember, this is for your safety. Thank you for your compliance." The electronic voice says.

"Yeah, we better get off these streets." Gally nods. "And I know it's hard, but act like you've seen it before." He begins to walk down the flight of stairs.

Leanne follows closely behind them, keeping an eye out for anyone they might cross paths with. The entire place felt familiar, although she knew it had probably changed a lot in three years. Patrol cars drove around, making sure everyone was off the streets. They wait for one to pass before running across the street to take shelter up against another building.

Another patrol car drives by. "How the heck did they not see us?" Leanne mumbles quickly. "We're literally hiding behind glass."

Gally rolls his eyes, watching the car drive away. "They've definitely upped security." He turns to look at them. "I'm guessing you shanks have something to do with that." When he's sure there's not another patrol vehicle coming, Gally nods towards the road. "All right, let's get outta here." Once they got away from those main roads and onto more of a back-road, they didn't worry all that much about cover.

They stop in front of a ramp going up. Gally gets into one knee. "All right, Newt, you're up." He gestures for Newt to go, and helps boost him up.

Gally turns to Leanne, hesitance in his eyes for a split second before he shakes it away. "Leanne." He copies his gesture, signaling for her to step into his hands. Instead, Leanne puts a hand onto Thomas' shoulder and pushes him down onto one knee roughly, gesturing for him to boost her up. With his help she pulls herself up and onto the street above them.

Newt helps her stand up. "Really?" He presses his lips together in a thin line.

"We'll talk about this later." She shrugs him off as Gally pulls himself onto the road.

After a lot of stairs, they found themselves at one of the higher points of the wall. "There it is." Gally points to a large building across from them. "If WICKED's got Minho, that's where they'll be keeping him." He pulls a small telescope out from under a piece of plywood and puts it on the railing. "Lawrence has been trying to find a way in for years. Place is crawling with soldiers." He looks through it, moving it so he can get a look at something. "They got surveillance everywhere." He looks up from the telescope. "Scanners on every floor."

"Sounds like a bloody fortress."

"Yeah, I thought you said you had a way in." Thomas looks to Gally.

"I might."

"You might?" Thomas exclaims. "What the hell do you mean "might"?"

Now, Leanne was starting to doubt that they would get in. When Gally had told Them he had a way to get inside WICKED, she was hopeful. She thought they had a chance. But now, the more information Gally told them the less she thought they would get in.

"Take a look." Gally gestures to the telescope, moving so Thomas can look through it. Leanne watches as he looks through it, slowly raising his head up. She didn't have to wonder long what had suddenly upset him. Not when he turned to look at Leanne with sad eyes.

"I said I had a way in. I didn't say you were gonna like it."

Newt pushes Thomas over so he can look through the lens, pulling back when he saw Teresa.

He steps back, watching Leanne as she slowly takes a couple steps forward to stand in front of the telescope. She raises a shaky hand to steady the telescope, then lowers her eye to it. There was Teresa, writing things down on a clipboard in a laboratory.

All along, Leanne knew this was coming. She just wasn't sure how she was going to handle it when they did get Teresa. However, she would have to figure it out quickly, because their time was running out.


	28. Unwanted Help

**AFTER RETURNING FROM** their little adventure, they all settled and Gally had gotten into telling the others what he has showed them, and explained what he planned on doing.

Leanne wasn't sure how much she liked that plan. Using Teresa? She may have given them over to WICKED but this was Leanne's sister. She didn't want to hurt Teresa in any way, although she was still mad at her. As long as none of them got hurt in the process, Leanne would be all aboard, assuming that Gally could assure them that Teresa wouldn't   
get another way to warn WICKED. Leanne waits silently, looking down at the helmets they stole from WICKED and the papers all over the table. They were waiting for someone to speak. Anyone.

"No. There's gotta be another way." Thomas is the first to speak.

"Like what? You've seen the building. She is our only way in." Gally gestures towards the papers.

Thomas rolls his eyes. "You really think she's gonna help us?"

Gally shrugs. "I don't plan on asking for her permission."

"Am I missing something here? This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct?" Brenda exclaims. "Same dick?"

"I like her." Gally nods.

"What's going on?" Brenda frowns. She did have a point, Teresa betrayed them. At this point most of them didn't care what would happen to her. Leanne only cared for one reason.

Newt looks up from the table. "What, are you afraid your little girlfriend's gonna get hurt?" He looks up at Thomas, who doesn't speak. Leanne feels a jab of jealousy run through her veins as Newt calls Teresa the Thomas' girlfriend. "Hmm? Because this has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho. Has it?" He asks, beginning to get annoyed with Thomas.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Thomas frowns.

"Teresa." Newt stands up straight and turns to face Thomas. "She's the only reason that Minho's even missing in the first place. Now we finally have an opportunity to get him back. And what? You don't want to because of her?" Newt speaks quickly, taking a step closer to Thomas. "Because deep down inside you still care about her, don't you? Just admit it."

Thomas shakes his head. "Newt, I..."

Newt pushes Thomas back against the wall. "Don't lie to me!" Leanne jumps up a little. She had never seen Newt act out like this. "Don't lie to me!" Beside Leanne, Juno isn't even looking at the two anymore. She directs her gaze to the ground. Brenda stands with her hand over her mouth. "Sorry." Newt mumbles, turning away from Thomas. "I'm sorry."

•••

Leanne was sitting down an empty hallway with her head in her hands and her knees pulled up to her chest when Gally approached her. She wasn't in the mood to talk, but she didn't protest as he installed himself beside her.

They sit in silence for a moment. Leanne stares at the wall ahead of them and Gally fumbles with his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry, Leanne." Gally starts. "For everything." He sighs, and she still doesn't speak. "For all the fighting in the Maze, and pinning everything against Thomas." He stops for a moment before proceeding. "For hurting you and killing Chuck."

"Gally, that wasn't you." Leanne says. Even she still couldn't separate the two; WICKED's Gally and _her_ Gally. It was difficult to look at him without seeing flashes of everything that had gone wrong. "That was the poison inside your brain." She couldn't tell if she was convincing or not, but either way Gally didn't respond. "WICKED's poison." Gally carefully places his hand on Leanne's knee in a comforting manner, but instead a lump forms in her throat. The last time his hands were on her he had a gun to her head. She can feel her breath begin to quicken as she struggles to inhale enough oxygen. "I'm sorry." Her voice cracks as she stands up. "It's just too much too fast." Leanne runs down the hall, dragging her hand along the wall to keep herself steady. "I can't breath." She mumbles to herself quietly. "I can't breath." She rounds a corner, looking for a way out. Everything begins to spin around her. She can't control anything going on around her. Black dots blur her vision as she bumps into someone. She hears their voice call out her name; like a voice through a busted radio. Everything is ringing. The last time she had felt this way, she was zip-lining out of the building where they first met Jorge and Brenda. Leanne pushes past the person and her hand finds a door handle. She falls onto the door and leans on it, steadying herself enough to open it. The sunlight doesn't help her vision but she doesn't care. She stumbles out and onto the roof. Her lungs burn as she breaths in big gulps of air. When she's able to see, she sits down on the ledge. She can hear a person behind her but she ignores them. Slowly, the ringing in her ears stops, and she's able to breath. She's in control again.

"Leanne?" Thomas says from behind her. Leanne looks down at the cement ground stories below her. This makes her feel even more in control again.

With the lump in her throat gone, Leanne speaks up. Her words are slow but clear. "Jumping would be so easy." She doesn't tear her eyes off of the ground below her. "It would end everything. All the hurting, all the problems."

"It would end everything for you, but not us." He says from behind her, not stepping any closer as if he'd scare her. "Don't jump."

"I'm not going to." She shakes her head. "I've still got unfinished business." She turns around to look at him with cold eyes. "You have to go get her."

**•••**

Thomas and Gally left together to go get Teresa, leaving the rest of them to hang around, bored.

Waiting for their return in a large cathedral-like room, the teens found themselves curing their boredom in different ways. Brenda has taken it upon herself to light every single candle she could find and place them around the room. Newt and Juno sat on two different sides of the room, enchanted in a staring contest. Jorge was sitting off to the side, playing with a deck of cards he had found. Frypan paced the back of the room quietly and Leanne sat on the window sill, waiting impatiently for the boys to get back.

"Will you two stop eye-fucking?" Brenda says behind her, pretending to throw up. Leanne turns around to see Juno and Newt looking away from each other quickly, both blushing. Frypan snickers as Leanne smiles. "You guys make me sick; you're so in love."

"Who's in love?" Thomas asks as he walks into the room alone.

"Newt and Juno." Frypan points to the two, embarrassing them even further.

"Mind your own bloody business!" Newt rolls his eyes.

"Well if you two hadn't been eye-fucking I wouldn't have realized and—" Brenda's interrupted by Thomas.

"We'll save this conversation for later." He rolls his eyes exasperatingly. "We've got her. They're outside."

Gally walks in with Teresa, who has a cloth bag over her head. If she hadn't taught herself some calming methods beforehand, Leanne might have found herself launching herself at Teresa. She just wasn't sure if it would have been to hug her or strangle her. Instead, she moves to sit beside Brenda, who sits off to the side of the room. Brenda did not know Teresa all that well, so she would not care what her fate would be. Leanne thought that maybe if she sat beside Brenda she would be able to feel that same resentment.

Gally brings Teresa to sit down on the chair I'm the middle of the empty space. The rest of them sit across or off to the side from her. He pulls the cloth off her head and moves to go sit beside Thomas. Teresa frowns at the sight of one of her captors. "Gally?"

"Here's how this is gonna go." Gally crosses his arms. "We're gonna ask you some questions, and you're gonna tell us exactly what we need to know." Leanne watches Teresa intently, looking for any signs of regret. "We'll start off simple. Where's Minho?" Gally stands, grabbing a chair and walking towards her.

"You guys don't seriously think—"

He interrupts her by slamming the chair down in the ground in front of Teresa, blocking her view from Thomas. "Don't look at him." He says. "Why are you looking at him? Look at me." Leanne had to admit that Gally was good at this whole interrogation thing. "He's not gonna help you." Teresa looks down at her feet. "Now, we know you have Minho in the building." Gally states. "Where?"

Teresa glances over at Leanne, then her eyes land on Juno. Leanne turns to look at Juno well, who had a solid glare directed towards Teresa. "He's with the others in holding. Sublevel three."

"How many others?" Newt asks.

"Twenty eight."

The group looks over at Brenda. "I can make that work." Brenda nods.

"No. No, you guys don't understand." Teresa shakes her head. "The whole level's restricted. You can't get in without a thumbprint ID."

"That's why you're gonna come with us." Thomas speaks up for the first time.

"Well, I don't know. We don't necessarily need her. Right?" Gally stands up, discarding The chair to the side and picking a knife up from the table. "Not all of her. We just need her finger." He turns to Teresa.

"Gally, back off." Thomas shakes his head.

"What, are you squeamish? I guarantee you she's done a lot worse to Minho." He points the knife to her.

"Hey!" Leanne says louldy, getting their attention. "We're not cutting her thumb off, so quit wasting time." She says sternly.

Teresa watches Leanne intently. She also had her questions, like if her sister disliked her. Or maybe if her sister pitied her. "It won't make a difference." Teresa puts on a brave face. "Do whatever you want to me. You still won't get through the front door. The sensors will pick you up the..."

"We know. We're tagged." Thomas stands up, making his way over to Teresa. "Property of WICKED." He crouched down beside her, holding up a scalpel. "You're gonna help us with that, too."


	29. The Inside Plan

**LEANNE SAT IN** silence, watching the people around her. She nervously awaited her turn for Teresa to take the chip out. Juno had gotten hers out first, not speaking at all to Teresa. Then, she was speaking to Newt before hugging Leanne and leaving with Jorge. They were going to get an important piece of their finale escape plan.

Leanne had chosen to be one of the last to go. She anxiously practiced what she wanted to say to Teresa in her head, although she couldn't decide what exactly she would go with.

"Leanne. It's your turn." Newt nods towards Teresa. She gets up and makes her way towards Teresa. Her heart pounds in her ears as she sits in front of her, with her back to the girl so she can take out the tag.

"Hi." Teresa says softly as she picks the scalpel up. "How have you been?"

A sharp stinging erupts at the back of her neck. "How have I been?" She almost wants to turn around and face Teresa, but holds herself from worsening things. "You mean since you turned us in to WICKED and I got experimented on?" Leanne says sarcastically. "Oh, pretty good."

Teresa cuts a little deeper. "I'm not joking." She sighs. "I was worried about you, Isla."

Leanne jerks away from her sister quickly and turns to face her. "Don't you dare call me that with them around, _Deedee_." She whispers harshly. "I haven't told them anything yet."

"Oh, so even six months after everything they don't know?" Teresa snarls back. "What, are you ashamed of me?"

"No, actually." Leanne answers with a sarcastic tone to her voice. "I actually wasn't with them until a couple days ago, so it's been kind of a whirlwind. I haven't found the time." Leanne turns back around so Teresa can continue her work.

"I never meant for you to get caught." She mumbles quietly.

"Well you gave WICKED that chance when you told them our location." Leanne winces, then pulls away when she feel Teresa take the little device out.

"People are dying. _Kids_ are dying." Teresa watches as Leanne stands up, taking a few steps away. "I don't want anyone else to go through what we had to go through."

"Even if that means putting us through even more shit?" Leanne watches Teresa frown and look down in her lap. She ends the conversation there, walking away from the girl before the conversation picked up even more. The mention of their mother was enough to bring tears or to bring anger, and Leanne wasn't in the mood for either.

"Here. See if these fit." Newt throws a pair pants at Leanne, then over at Frypan and Gally.

"I doubt they will." Leanne mumbles.

Frypan rolls his eyes. "Just roll the waist up so they don't fall down." He says teasingly.

Leanne sticks her tong out at him. "Whatever." She slips around a corner and sighs. She shrugs out of her pants and into the uniform pants, rolling the waistband like Frypan had teased. She didn't want them to fall off when she was running from armed men.

She comes back into the large church room as Gally approaches Teresa and Thomas, who had seemed to be arguing. It seemed that arguing was all anyone could do these days. Leanne didn't blame them though, they were all worried about Minho. They were all there to get the boy.

Newt comes over to Leanne, who had begun to places the bullets in her guns. "Before you start lecturing me about how you don't want me to come," The brunette begins, tucking one of the small handguns into her waistband. "I want you to know that I'm not here for you, or Thomas, or Teresa. I'm not even here for myself." She pulls a jacket on over her grey tank top. "I'm here for Minho. So nothing you say is going to convince me to stay behind."

Newt nods slowly. "Alright then." He grabs his own guns. "I'll leave you be then."

Just as Newt leaves, Thomas replaces him by Leanne's side. "I'm not here to cheer you on, Thomas. I'm here to bring WICKED down, and get Minho. So if you're here to try and talk me out of doing this—"

Thomas shakes his head. "I just want you to be safe." He manages a small smile. "Don't make any rash, emotional based decisions."

Leanne lifts an eyebrow. "Isn't that what this whole plan is ran by?" She zips up her sweater and tucks her hair under the collar. "Emotions? The anger you feel towards WICKED, and the emotions you feel towards Minho, for his safety?" She smiles softly. "I'm just as capable as any of you."

"I don't doubt it." He nods curtly, turning around to leave.

"Thomas," He stops and faces her again. "I want you to be safe too." He nods absentmindedly. She grabs his elbow tightly. "I'm not just saying this _because_ , Thomas." She pulls him closer towards her. "No sacrifices. Not tonight."

**•••**

The intimidating buildings of the protected city no longer scared Leanne. Instead, they angered her. These people were living in safety, torturing innocent people. It almost seemed surreal to her: she should be in one of those holding cells, anxiously waiting the day she was pulled out of it. She walks alongside Gally through the parking garage. "You scared?" Gally says lowly, trying to make conversation as they walk further into the concret garage.

"Not really." Leanne says, not very convincingly.

Gally scoffs. "You've never been a good liar."

Leanne rolls her eyes under the stuffy mask. "Really? Cause I'm pretty sure you didn't know about my remember my life before telling you back in the Maze." She says in a snarky tone.

"It's not like you were actually lying, because we never asked." He replies, mirroring her snarky tone.

Leanne elbows him lightly when she sees Teresa being led by two guards —Thomas and Newt— through the glass. "Whatever. We don't have time to argue right now."

They quiet down and step in behind the group to follow them towards a door. "I'm too short for this." Leanne mumbles, the smallest amongst the group of the poser-guards. Teresa swipes her keycard and pushes the door open, leading them into a stairwell.

"Hold on. Hold on." Gally stops them, looking at the panel on the wall in front of him. "I can get in here."

Leanne glad to stop, pulling the mask from her face. She could finally see clearly and breath some fresh air.

Thomas nods. "Stay there. Throw me the walkie." He takes the device and heads ahead, down the stairs.

Newt steadies himself on the railing, coughing. Leanne watches him worriedly. She places a hand on his arm and gently pushes him to sit on the steps. He watches her intently, waiting for the question he knows is bound to come. "You're sick, aren't you?" She whispers quietly, frowning.

Newt looks down at his feet, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Leanne crouches in front of him, cupping his face with her hands so he's looking at her. "Hey, hey, it's okay." Behind them, Thomas speaks with Frypan, but they both ignore them. "You don't have to explain yourself." Her voice was calming; she worked well to hide to worry in it. "We're going to find a cure for you." Newt nods, managing a small smile.

Gally finishes his work and slams the panel shut. "All right, let's go." They run down the flights of stairs, and Leanne is thankful they don't have to go up instead. Teresa exits the stairwell and leads them down a hallway. She stops in front of a closed door.

"This is it."

"Okay," Thomas nods. "Get ready."

The door opens from the inside and they're confronted by a tall armed man. Thomas shoots the man quickly, sending him to the ground with bolts of electricity. The noise alarms the man's coworkers, and they all turn with their guns up. Leanne would be lying if she said she was really aiming. As long as it wasn't one of her friends, she was shooting in the general direction of the people. It seemed kind of stupid, but with that method she did manage to shoot one of them down. She just didn't have time to practice her aiming. And with the boys shooting as well, the others went down quickly.

"God, you're really bad with that thing." Gally nudges her playfully.

"You know what, _shank_ , it gets the job done." She rolls her eyes, moving away from him and towards one of the cell doors. She pulls the door open and ushers the kids out. "Hey, it's okay." She speaks sweetly. "Come on out."

Gally inspects the vault door. "Guys, this might take some time." He drops his bag to the ground and starts to take out his gear.

"Shit." Leanne hears Thomas curse. All the cells were empty. "He's not here." The boy moves towards Teresa. "Where is he?"

"I— I don't know." Teresa stutters nervously. "He was here." She shrugs.

Leanne slams her hands on the desk, tired of people making excuses. Then, her eyes land on the computer. "Can't you check the damn system?" She points to the computer.

Gally starts to try and weld the door open. Newt instructs the kids to tie the unconscious guards up and place them in a cell for now.

Teresa opens the computer, and clicking a few times before sighing exasperatingly. "Someone's moved him to the medical wing." She shakes her head, standing up from the computer. "Thomas, that's on the other side of the building."

Thomas barely even stops to think. "Okay, take me to him. Right now."

Newt grabs his gear. "All right. I'm coming with you."

"Newt, no, you're not. You have to stay here, wait with Gally for the serum." Thomas gestures towards Gally, who continues to work at opening the door.

"I can wait here with Gally." Leanne says loudly.

"You can't do this on your own. Minho comes first, remember?" Newt watches Thomas carefully.

"Just go. We're wasting time!" Gally stops his work. "Leanne and I will get the serum. We'll meet you out back."

Thomas looks over at Newt for a moment, then at Leanne. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

They begin to head towards the door. Gally and Leanne both watch them. "Hey, Greenie." Gally calls out. "Good luck." They both nod to each other.

Leanne moves towards the door, and watches as they step out into the hall. "Thomas." She whispers, almost harshly. " _Don't_ get distracted."


	30. Cutting It Close

**IT DIDN'T TAKE** much longer after they left for Gally to open the vault. "Yes!" He swings the door open beside an excited Leanne.

They were careful to put all of the viles into a bag. Gally holds the bag tightly. "Okay, what's next?" He sighs.

"Put the guards in here." Leanne steps out of the vault. "You guys help him." She waves at some of the kids to help, then moves towards the desk to find a pad of paper and a pen. "I'm going to leave him a little note."

Once they're done, Leanne sets her note down on one of the guards' lap.

"What does it say?" Gally peeks over her shoulder to read it.

_You once told me you'd do anything for what you believed in, no matter what._   
_Well now, I would too._

"And he's going to know it's you?" Gally asks just as sirens begin to blare.

Leanne nods. "Oh trust me, he will."

"Okay. We need to get outta here now." Gally and Leanne both exit the vault and he pushes the door shut. "You stay close to us. Stick together." He stops in front of one of the boys. "You, you guard this with your life. You understand?" The boys nods violently.

"All right. Let's go." Leanne waves for the kids to follow her. She could feel an extra layer of stress on her shoulders because of the kids she was leading. If anything were to happen to anyone she would never be able to live with herself.

As Leanne leads the kids back the way they came, there was one part she dreaded: the stairs. This time, they were going up, and Leanne knew this was going to suck away her energy.

They finally made it to the familiar parking garage where Leanne and Gally had first made their entrance, but they wouldn't be able to hide in plain sight anymore. "Stay low! Stay low!" Gally and Leanne direct the kids out of sight from the guards running around trying to find them.

"Go! Go! Go!" Gally stands moves to the front of the group, beside Leanne. "Brenda, where are you? We're here." Gally says into the walkie-talkie.

Just as Gally says this, a big bus slams on its breaks right in front of their path. A quick wave of panic rushes through Leanne but it's calmed when she realizes it's Brenda. The girls gets out of the bus. "Come on, let's go." Brenda waves the kids forward. The kids file into the bus quickly. "Front and back, front and back."

"Where's everyone else?" Brenda frowns, eyes searching Leanne and Gally for answers.

"I was hoping they were with you." Gally frowns.

"Fuck!" Leanne curses. Brenda moves to get off the bus but Leanne raises her hand to her them. "Wait! You stay here with the kids." She looks over at Gally. "We'll go get them."

Brenda nods to Leanne, who gestures for Gally to follow her. "Good luck!" Brenda calls out after them.

They go back into the building. "Okay, best thing we can do right now is split up." Leanne nods. "I have an extra walkie-talkie." She pats her belt, nodding.

"Leanne, don't worry." Gally nods. "With the uniforms, we fit in. So just... act like one of them."

Leanne scoffs. "That's no problem. I spent six months with them, I know how they act."

She waves at Gally, then turns to run off in the opposite direction. This building was huge, and Leanne knew that it would be tiring, but that wasn't going to stop her.

Leanne was thankful that the elevators in the building were still running. Yes, it seemed kind of silly, her taking the elevator in a time of crisis, but if she had to run up twenty flights of stairs she might cry.

When Leanne could hear the sound of gunshots, she knew she was for sure on the right floor. Although Teresa hadn't said which floor the medical wing was on, Leanne had gotten a glance at the screen and had a general idea.

She follows the sound of the yelling but stops short when a glass window breaks and a man falls at her feet, not moving. She looks up and sees Minho. However, Minho doesn't recognize her because she's wearing the mask. He charges at her, but she moves aside quickly. "Minho!" She exclaims, yanking the mask off and throwing it to the side.

He moved towards her quickly and Leanne almost thinks he's going to charge her again, but instead he hugs her tightly. "Leanne." He exhales. "I can't believe you're here."

She pulls away from him, smiling. "We have to go find Thomas and Newt." She nods.

"Do you have an idea of where they are?" Minho asks as they run down the hall.

"Honestly, just listen for the sound of guns shooting and people yelling." She shrugs. Then, almost like she triggered it, those two sounds ring from down the hall. "Tada!" Minho runs beside her as they run down the hall. They can see a guard standing in a doorway, and both Leanne and Minho instantly know he's blocking it for a reason.

Like he nearly did to her earlier, Minho charges at the man. He picks him up and slams him against the wall, then throws him through a window. "Minho! I could've just shot him!" Leanne exclaims, gesturing to her gun.

Minho ignores her, instead turning to look at Thomas and Newt. All three boys smile with wide grins, and they all move to hug each other. Leanne watches with a smile on her face at the reunion. Thomas grabs onto Leanne's arm, dragging her into the hug. "Is this real?" Minho asks.

When he does this, Leanne almost wants to cry. She knows why he's asking this: the simulations. The horrible tests they'd put them through, like the worst situations in the Glade. She couldn't unsee hers, but now wasn't the time. It was never the time.

More men yell, and they realize they have to move quickly. Leanne is shoved forward, running through the halls. They round a corner, but Janson appears at the other end of the hall with more men, who begin to shoot at them.

Thomas turns and pulls open a random door, gesturing for them to follow him in. He slams the door shut and locks it while Leanne inspects the room. It seemed to be a small laboratory. Newt and Minho push a metal shelf in front of the door and onto its side.

"We're cornered." Leanne says in a surprised tone. "They fucking cornered us." She shakes her head. "Fucking Janson." She curses.

Suddenly, sparks begin to fly into the room through the crack of the door; they were sawing it open.

"Any ideas?" Minho yells.

"Maybe." Thomas says as he looks outside.

Leanne looks down at the courtyard below them. "Oh, we're up really fucking high." She shakes her head again. "I don't like this."

Thomas walks over to the large metal containers. "Minho, Newt, help me." The boys lift the can up. "Leanne, move!"

She moves to the side of the room, giving them space to launch themselves forward and rocket the container through the glass and out the building. She steps up beside them and watches it fall into the fountain below. "Okay," Thomas pants. "It's doable. We just need a little running start."

They move back to stand closer to the door. Leanne found the entire situation almost ironic, and turns to Thomas. "I guess jumping is the answer then, huh?" She sends him a small smile. "Well, no better time to face my fears." Shrugging, Leanne pushes herself forward and runs the short distance.

She hears the chorus of "Leanne!"s from the boys behind her but ignores them as she pushes her feet against the ledge and launches herself off the floor. She could feel the panic begin to claw at her chest, leaving her raw and bare, but she swallowed it down and jumped instead. She didn't know what she was thinking, and if anything she wasn't thinking at all. She wouldn't let her fear of heights take her own life, and maybe in jumping she had just overcome it. But instead, it was replaced with the fear of water. It approached her quickly and she knew the impact would most likely hurt.

When her body did hit the water, she was surprised. Leanne had thought it would hurt more than it actually did. She struggled a little to reach the surface with the layers of clothes, but just as her head did reach the surface three bodies landed in the water around her. It took a moment for them to surface, but once they did the four of them swam towards the side and got out of the water.

"You're bloody crazy." Newt says to Leanne, who shrugs.

"You jumped too."

The sound of guns being cocked rings out behind them. Leanne twists to see four armed guards making their way towards them. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Thomas says exasperatingly.

"Take it easy." They walk forward with their guns pointed at them. "Ah ah ah ah, don't even think about it." One of them says as Thomas reaches for the gun at his thigh. "Get on your knees with your hands in the air—"

One of the guards turns towards the other three, shooting them quickly. He moves towards them and pulls off his mask.

"Gally?" Minho frowns.

Gally nods curtly. "Minho." He looks up at the window where they jumped from them back at them. "You guys are nuts."

Leanne moves to follow Gally, passing Minho, who stares in shock.

"I'll explain later." She hears Thomas tell him. "We have to move."

Minho grabs a jacket from one of the unconscious guards and nods. "Okay, lets go."

Gally leads them through the building and outside. They keep low to stay out of sight from the patrol cars driving around. It seemed WICKED had really wanted them caught, since a helicopter patrolled the city from above.

They take cover behind some cement planters as more patrol vehicles drive by with their sirens blazing.

Beside her, Newt continues to cough. His health was deteriorating quickly, and Minho could tell as well "Newt, how are you feeling?" He asks, crouched in front of Newt.

"Terrible." Newt shakes his head. "It's good to see you though." He smiles up at Minho, patting his shoulder. Minho nods, then shuffles over to Thomas.

Leanne turns to Newt. "Here, I'll help you." She slips her wet jacket off, leaving her in her grey tank top, then helps Newt out of his.

"Lea," Newt's voice is raspy and small. "Remember our promise to each other in the Maze?"

"No." Leanne shakes her head in denial. Of course she remembered, but she didn't want to. "No Newt. Not today."

Newt sends her a small, sad smile. "If anything happens to me, you leave me." He recites what they had both made each other promise before their attempt to escape the Maze, so long ago. "You promised me, Lee." He takes her hand. "Don't start breaking promises on me now."

Leanne sniffles a little, but hides her tears when Thomas comes over to them. "Hey, Newt." He moves to help the boy stand. "Come on, bud. We gotta get you up." Thomas pulls Newt up, and Newt stumbles forward. Thomas catches him quickly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You okay?"

Newt steadies himself on his feet with Thomas' help. "Yeah, yeah." He nods. "I'm fine."

He wasn't fine.


	31. Dear Newt

**CHAOS. IT HAD** taken over the entire city. Patrol cars and helicopters were at every corner, and troops of guards ran through the streets.

Leanne was worried that they would be caught; it's not like the could move quickly with Minho and Thomas supporting Newt, and there were so many people out looking for them. However, it seemed that those people out looking for them would soon be very distracted.

They were running down the street when a bright explosion of light shot out to their right. Lawrence was attacking the city. The glass windows of the buildings around them shattered and the ground shook as the concret came tumbling down. They all stop to watch, mouths agape at the sight.

"We're supposed to take down WICKED, not the whole damn city." Gally says, unable to pull his eyes from the destruction.

They all stand still for another moment before Thomas makes a gesture with his head. "Gally, come on." They begin to move with Newt, but Gally doesn't budge.

Leanne starts to follow Minho and Thomas, but she doesn't blame Gally for being shocked. None of them had been informed about this part of the plan. The city, once a safe place, was now a city of destruction.

Once Gally had begun to follow them, he took the lead again. The further they moved the more people there were. "Tunnels are right up ahead." He says as they turn a corner. "Shit!" In the middle of the street there were multiple patrol cars surrounded by armed men. "Hey! Stay low! Stay low!" They take cover behind a large planter and watch as the more men exit the vehicles, arming themselves with shields and guns.

"Damn it!" Gally curses.

Everything is silent for a moment. "What are they waiting for?" Minho frowns.

Like he triggered it, a large explosion sounds out behind them. Moments later people from outside of the city begin to flood the street.

"Get down, get down!"

Leanne shakes her head. "We're stuck in the crossfire."

More guards come and chaos ensues around them. Bombs and bullets are shot in every direction. Little bits of debris fall on them with the explosions.

"We gotta go. Come on." Gally stands up quickly, gesturing for them to copy him.

Minho and and Thomas help Newt up quickly and Leanne takes the lead. Another bomb explodes beside them as she tries to lead them. "We have to take cover!" She yells, gesturing to a building beside them.

The building is dark and allows them to take shelter from the chaos outside. Leanne crouches next to Gally as Thomas talks to Brenda through the walkie-talkie.

"What are we gonna do, Gally?" She frowns, watching the war outside.

He peels his eyes away from the fighting and looks at Leanne. "We're going to get out." He nods. "Don't worry. We're gonna make it."

"I know we will, Gally." Leanne's eyes roam over to Newt and she lowers her voice. "I'm just worried it won't be all of us leaving."

Gally shakes his head. "Stop it."

Thomas stands up. "We have to meet them at the tunnels."

Minho and Thomas both take their places at Newt's sides while Gally and Leanne both move ahead of them, keeping their guns raised in case they run into anyone. At this point, Leanne was more worried of getting a bomb dropped on her than getting shot. But she still kept her eyes wide open in case.

"All right. Newt, we're almost there." Gally tells the boy encouragingly. Before Gally can step out into the street in front of them, a car goes flying past them. "Back! Back!"

They drop into low crouches as more outsiders begin to flood the street, shooting at the WICKED workers. A berg flies through the sky above their heads slowly.

They all watch it for a moment before Thomas nods. "Yeah. It's them. We gotta go."

Leanne turns to Newt, who keeps getting worse by the minute. His skin is ghostly and purple veins creep along his face. A dark substance leaks from his mouth and he continues to cough it up; his blood. "Go without me." He pants, struggling to speak. "You should just..."

They all watch him with sad eyes. "Minho." Leanne speaks slowly, although her tone is urgent. "You gotta run ahead, grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can." Minho turns to look at her, shaking his head. "You're the fastest among us, you can do it."

"Minho, go." Thomas nods in agreement.

"She's right. I can cover." Gally adds.

Minho shakes his head. "You— you're faster than me." He tells Leanne, eyes pleading with her.

She glances back at Newt before shaking her head in denial. "I can't leave him."

There's a moment of hesitance, then Minho goes to stand but Newt stops him. "Thank you." He nods, not taking his eyes off the boy. "Thank you, Minho."

Minho watches Newt carefully for a second. "Hey, you just hang on. You hear me?" Newt nods and Minho stands up, crossing the street as Gally leads him.

"Okay, they're through." Thomas nods, standing up to look at them run down the street.

Leanne stands up beside him and places her hand on his arm. "Thomas, we can't just sit here." She glances over at Newt, who's breath grows heavy. "We have to try and get closer to the tunnel."

Thomas looks down at her. "Yeah, okay." He turns and walks over to Newt, who's breathing continues to grow even heavier. "Newt? Newt? Hey! Hey! Newt! Hey!" Newt finally looks over at Thomas. "We're gonna try this. Okay?" Thomas tries to get Newt to stand but he doesn't move. "We gotta move, now. Let's get you up, come on."

"No. No, Thomas." Newt shakes his head, struggling to grasp at something around his neck.

"No, Newt. Later. Later. Really gotta go."

"Look, you gotta take this." Newt yanks his necklace off his neck.

"We gotta get you up, now." Leanne crouches beside him.

"No, just take it! Please." Newt watches Thomas with pleading eyes. "Please, Tommy. Please."

"All right." Thomas breathes out. "All right." He places it in pocket, nodding.

"Promise me something." Newt looks between Leanne and Thomas, who both share a look. Instead of arguing, they nod. "Take care of eachother, yeah?"

"Of course." Leanne says immediately, her hand flying up to push some some hair out of Newt's face. "We will. But right now, we gotta go." Her tone is soft and encouraging, but strong enough to snap Thomas out of his daze.

"I need you to give me everything you got." The boy tells Newt. "You and me, right now. Leanne is going to cover us." Thomas looks over at Leanne, who nods. "Let's go. You ready?"

Newt nods and Thomas picks him up to follow Leanne out into the street. Thomas is practically dragging Newt, so Leanne throws her gun aside and drapes Newt's other arm around her shoulders. "We can do this." She says encouragingly. "We got this, guys."

They make it past all the fighting and into another courtyard. "We're almost there, Newt!" Thomas encourages the boy as well. "Come on, Newt."

Newt's arm slips from around Leanne's shoulder. She lets go of his waist to try and slip it back onto her shoulder but Newt falls forward. Thomas catches him swiftly to soften the fall. "No! Newt! Newt!" Thomas shakes the boy, then places his head on his chest to listen for a heartbeat.

"Thomas! We have to keep moving!" Leanne yells to him.

Thomas nods, grabbing Newt from under his arms. "You grab his feet!"

Leanne struggles to grab Newt's feet but she finally manages to get a good enough grip that she won't drop him. Her arms ache just as her heart does as she watches Newt's face contort in pain. 

After a couple of meters Thomas falls backwards, bringing Newt down with him. "No! Come on, Thomas. We can do it!" Leanne cries out, trying to help Thomas stand.

Before Leanne can try again, a voice rings out through the intercoms. "Thomas?" It's Teresa. "Can you hear me?" Her voice is loud around them. "I need you to listen to me." Thomas lets go of Newt. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to come back." He stands up and looks around them. "Thomas, you can save Newt."

Leanne feels her heart pound in her chest. Teresa better be right about this. "There's still time for him. There's a reason Brenda isn't sick anymore." Teresa pauses before continuing. "It's your blood." Leanne looks over at Thomas, who stands there, shocked. "Do you understand? She isn't sick, because you cured her."

Leanne looks down at Newt, then back up at Thomas. He could save Newt. He was the cure.

"She doesn't have to be the only one. All you have to do is come back. And this will all finally be over."

Leanne couldn't help but wonder if Thomas had been WICKED's favourite due to the cure in his blood. If the reason he was so precious to them, was because they'd known all along. But if they had known, they would've emptied him dry, so that couldn't be the case.

"Please. Just come back to me. I know you'll do the right..." Before she can finish, everything goes dark. Then, large lights on the side of the building flicker on.

"Thomas, are you going to—" Leanne begins, stopping when she sees Newt stand up behind Thomas. "Newt?"

Thomas turns to look at the boy, who's now standing. Newt slowly turns around to face them. "Newt," Thomas watches him carefully. Leanne shuffles to step forward, but Newt lunges at Thomas. Thomas moves to the side quickly, sending Newt crashing to the ground. "Newt? Newt, it's me. It's me!"

Newt stands up again, and lunges at Thomas. This time he makes contact with Thomas and they both roll to the ground. Thomas shoved Newt off of him and backs away. "Tommy, kill me!" Newt begs. "Please."

"Newt, no—" Newt turns on her, flinging himself at her. She falls to the ground with Newt on top of her. "Newt! Stop, it's Lea!" She begs as his hands put pressure on her throat. "It's Leanne!"

Newt's rage leaves in a wave of confusion. He pants heavily, looking down at Leanne. "I'm sorry, Lee. I'm so sorry."

Tears run down Leanne's face. "It's okay, Newt." Thomas helps Newt off of Leanne. "It's okay, pumpkin." She says, bringing back the old nickname she used to call him by so long ago, before Thomas had even arrived in the Maze. An inside joke long dropped — though never forgotten. She could never forget anything that had to do with Newt.

As Thomas steadies Newt, the sick boy grabs ahold of the gun at Thomas' thigh, loading it and raising it to his head. "No!" Thomas swings his hand quickly, hitting the gun out of Newt's hands. 

The boy gets angry again and lunges towards Thomas, sending them both to the ground. "Newt! No!" Leanne yells, moving towards them.

Newt pulls a knife from his belt and raises it over Thomas, bringing it down. Thomas grabs ahold of Newt's arms, slowing him down and nearly stopping him, but Newt continues to push, impaling Thomas.

Thomas screams loudly as the knife plunged deeper into his skin. Leanne grabs onto Newt's shoulders and pulls him backwards, off Thomas. He turns on her, swinging the knife up towards her. She backs up quickly but the knife gets close to her face. Raising her arms to cover her face, she lets out a short scream when she feels the knife slash at her arms.

Then, the boy in front of her disappears. Lowering her arms she sees Thomas pin Newt down on the ground. Newt struggles below Thomas, then kicks him off of him. Newt swings the knife at Thomas, missing multiple times at Thomas jumps back. Newt gets closer to Thomas and grabs onto Thomas' shoulder, pulling him closer to plunge the knife into him.

Leanne's heart drops to her stomach as they both stand against each other, neither moving. She couldn't tell which of them had been caught at the end of the dagger, and she didn't want to know. She wanted to pause everything, because no matter who got caught on the wrong end, she was going to be broken. She couldn't lose either of these boys, and she had just lost one. The aching in her heart intensifies as the seconds slow; everything seems to be frozen. Leanne's heartbeat pounds in her ears as she waits for the revealing move; who will die tonight? It's an evil game of chance and luck, neither of which turn out to be on anyone's side.

When Thomas steps away from Newt, Leanne is still unable to see where the knife is. She moves closer, then her breathing stops. "No!" She jumps forward as Newt falls to the ground with the knife in his chest. Thomas kneels down on Newt's other side. "No, no, no." Her eyes sting angry red but she tries to blink it away. "I'm not going to lose you too." Her hands shake as she rests them on his chest. "Newt..." She shakes the boy's body, but he doesn't respond. "Newt..." Her voice gets caught in her throat as more tears prick her eyes and fall down her cheeks. "Please wake up,"

She begins to sob as her shoulder shook uncontrollably. She had lost him. She had lost her bestfriend, just as they learnt that there was a cure. "Please Newt, please." Her tears fall down onto his shirt. "No!" She takes a hold of his collar and shakes his body more. "Newt!" She cries. People's feet shuffle around her, but she doesn't look up at them. She can't take her eyes off Newt. His lifeless eyes stare up at her and she wants to reach over and close them but she can't move. She's paralyzed. Newt was supposed to live. He was supposed to make it, because he was a good person. He should have been immune, he should've _lived_. The people crouch down beside her, and she looks up to see Minho and Frypan. Frypan places a hand on Leanne's shoulder but she shrugs it off quickly. "Don't touch me!" She sobs. "Don't touch me!" She screams, clutching Newt's body even tighter.

Then, everything in her seems to snap. Her hands are raised aggressively and her frail arm tugs the knife out of Newt's chest. Her hands fall flat on his chest and she pushes herself up onto her knees, beginning chest compressions.

_One, two, three._

She presses down hard and aggressively, ignoring the pleads around her for her to stop.

 _One, two, three_.

He can't be gone. The boy Leanne loved as a brother, the one she trusted with nearly all her secrets, he couldn't be gone.

 _One, two, three_.

She could not save everyone, she knew that. But she just wanted to save him.

_One, two, three. Again. Again. Again._

He can't be gone.

 _Again. Harder_.

This had to work. It just has to.

The heel of her hands slam down onto Newt's chest with such force that she's sure she just cracked a rib or two of his.

He can't be gone.

But he is.

Small hands grab onto Leanne's arms and pull her upwards. Brenda wraps Leanne in a soft hug. Leanne sobs into Brenda's shoulder, watching as Minho kneels beside Newt. Frypan crouches beside him, and Juno takes a step forward, but stops a meter away and doesn't go any closer.

Leanne pulls away from Brenda and looks over at them. Then, she looks over at Brenda. "Thomas." She breathes out. "Where's Thomas?"

Brenda points forwards. "He went that way."

Gally moves to grab Leanne but the brunette jogs forward. "Leanne, no!" He yells, but Leanne's running faster.

She knew where Thomas was going; to Teresa. She had told him once that she wasn't there to follow him, she was there to save Minho, and to get a Newt the cure. But now, Minho was saved, and Newt was gone.Though it would go against everything she had ever taught herself, there was only one thing left to do; _follow_.


	32. Dear Teresa

**IGNORING THE PLEADING** cries of her friends to stay put, Leanne ran into the glass building without second thought. She moved before her mind could comprehend what she was doing; not that it mattered. She would always go after Thomas.

She runs towards a set of glass doors. Before she can push them open, she catches a flash of herself in the glass pane and winces; her brown hair was matter down and greasy, her lips and chin were covered in whatever black substance had been falling from Newt's lips moments earlier, her nails were caked with dirt and blood, and her hands and shirt were covered in crimson blood that she would surely never be able to scrub away.

God, they really did need showers.

She finds a doorway to the stairwell and begins to run up; she wouldn't stop now. Her legs pumped quicker than ever, taking the steps two at a time without tire.

The sound of gunshots alarms Leanne as she runs up the stairs. Dust falls from the upper levels as the building shakes. Leanne listens for the sound of more gunshots, then stops when she thinks she's on the right floor. Raising the metal bar she had found laying on the ground, Leanne walks through the halls quickly. As she turns a corner, she spots Janson standing with a gun raised. Walking forward quietly, Leanne approaches Janson from the side. Down the hall she can see Thomas and Teresa running. As Janson loads his gun Leanne swings the bar quickly. "Fuck you, Janson!" She yells. But he's able to shoot a couple of times before he falls to the ground. Leanne watches him groan in pain, then turns to run in the same direction as Thomas and Teresa. Before she can get a couple steps away, Janson grabs onto her ankle and pulls her down, making her slam her chin onto the ground. It's her turn to groan in pain. She looks up to see her metal bar a couple feet away. She tries to push herself towards it but Janson clicks his tong.

"I wouldn't try that." She turns to look at him just in time to see him bring his foot down on Leanne's ankle —the same one she sprained in the Maze—. A loud crack resonates through the room and Leanne screams in pain. Behind Janson, outside, another bomb is launched at the building. When it hits, Janson falls to the ground. Leanne takes this chance to pull herself up and limp in the direction Thomas and Teresa had ran in.

She turns into the laboratory where they're hiding. "Teresa? Thomas?" She whispers. "It's me, Leanne."

Teresa stands up from behind a counter. "Over here!" She crouches back down and Leanne makes her way over, gasping when she sees Thomas.

His shirt is soaked with blood and he's shaking in pain. "Oh my god." She exhales, dropping down beside him. "We need to put pressure on it." Leanne doesn't hesitate to press her hands on it, earning a groan from Thomas. "Teresa, you need to find some bandages, or a cloth." Leanne nods to the drawers around them. "Anything we can use to put more pressure on it."

Teresa finds a cloth and hands it to Leanne. She presses it to his wound quickly.

"You both have to go." Thomas breaths out. "You have to leave."

"No." Teresa shakes her head.

Leanne copies her gesture. "Not without you."

They silence themselves quickly when they hear the door opens. "I admit, Teresa, you had me fooled." Janson speaks. Teresa gestures for them to follow her. "I thought we were friends." Leanne shuffles behind them, kicking a beaker over. Her eyes widen and she rolls to the side quickly, out of Janson's sight. "Maybe it's just in your nature to betray the people closest to you." Across the room from her, Teresa knocks a tray over. Janson shoots at her but misses. "Come on. Let's not prolong this." He moves around the room. "We both know there's no way outta here." Leanne watches Teresa try to make her way over to Thomas slowly. "Let's not make this any more painful than it needs to be." Janson walks through the room, speaking their names tauntingly. "Leanne, I have to admit I was proud when I saw the note you left for me." She shuffles to the side as he turns down the isle where she's hiding. "I guess I taught you well."

Leanne sees Teresa move to cross the opening over to Thomas. She waves her hands to try and tell her not to but Teresa doesn't see her. Janson steps out in front of her path. Teresa shuffles backwards as he walks towards her with his gun raised. "I think you have something of mine." Janson says. Teresa stands up and raises the small vile of the cure. "Not that. Where is he?" Janson takes another step towards Teresa. Leanne moves over to Thomas.

"Just take it." Teresa doesn't move. "Leave him alone."

"What is it with you two?" Janson spits. "You think he's so special? He's a lab rat. He was born with a gift. He never had to fight for it, he never earned it. He doesn't deserve it."

"Maybe. But it's his." Teresa responds.

Leanne opens drawers quietly, looking for a knife or anything sharp she can use against Janson, but there's nothing.

"What do you think, Leanne?" Janson calls out. "I'm sure you don't want your dear sister to die." Leanne pauses for a moment and Thomas looks over at her, confused. "What about you, Thomas?" Janson calls out. "What do you have to say? Don't you have enough blood on your hands already?" Janson asks. "You might not have been able to shoot her. But I can." When Thomas doesn't answer, Janson shakes his head. "Okay. Fine. Have it your way."

Leanne watches as Thomas stands up with a large metal box. "Janson." Thomas yells, throwing the box at the glass.

"Missed, you little shit." Janson smiles when the glass doesn't break.

"Doesn't really matter, though." A female voice sounds out. They all turn quickly to see Doctor McDonell standing at the door with a gun raised. Before Janson can say anything, Kate doesn't hesitate to start shooting. Teresa dodges out of the way to take cover behind the cabinets as bullets fly through the air.

Janson falls to the ground, blood begin to soak through his shirt at multiple spots. "McDonell." He spits out. "I should've known."

"I'm not going to let any more kids die. Not if I'm able to stop it." She raises her gun and pulls the trigger once more, sending a bullet right between Janson's eyes.

Leanne stands up and launches herself at the woman. "Kate!" She hugs her tightly. "Thank you!" 

"You're welcome! Now go!" She ushers the three teens out of the laboratory. "You need to get out of the building." She tells them.

Leanne frowns as she supports Thomas. "You're not coming with us?"

"Juno is still in the building." Kate tells them quickly. "I have to get her out." She leads them down the hall a little. "Take the stairwell. It should still be fine."

Leanne nods. "Be safe!"

"You too."

Kate runs off in the other direction and Leanne pushes the door to the stairwell open. They're about to go down but stop short when they see sparks flying and fire down below. Teresa and Leanne pulls Thomas towards the stairs to go up and work together to take them out onto the roof. Leanne coughs roughly, unable to breath with all the smoke in the air. She limps out beside Thomas.

The entire building around the was engulfed in flames, which continued to grow up the sides of the building. Teresa turns them around to go back inside but fires blows out of the door aggressively. They were trapped.

Thomas falls backwards between them. "Thomas!" Both girls kneel down beside him. Leanne looks down at his abdomen to see his hands covered in even more blood. Her head begins to get fuzzy as more smoke clouds around them.

Teresa begins to cry, and Leanne reaches over to grab her hand. Thomas rests his on top of theirs. "I'm sorry. I tried." Teresa sniffles.

"We all did." Leanne manages a sad smile. "We tried our best, Teresa. It's okay."

Thomas coughs before sitting up a little. He looks between the both. "What Janson said... about you two being sisters?"

"Surprise." Leanne laughs through her tears, making Teresa smile. She was going to die, but she realized she was okay with it. Because if she was dying now she was dying surrounded by the two people she loved the most. Leanne's laugh turns into a rough cough, trying to get air to her lungs through the smoke. Teresa steadies her sister as her coughing slows.

A bright light blinds Leanne, and for a moment she thinks it's death. However, her eyes adjust to the light and she looks up to see a berg hovering at the end of the building. Teresa's the first to stand, yanking Thomas up with her. "Come on!" She yells. Leanne manages to pull herself up and wraps an arm around Thomas' waist.

They walk, but with Thomas' condition and Leanne's ankle, Thomas falls to the ground. "No, Thomas. Get up." Leanne winces as she puts weight on both her ankles and pulls Thomas to a standing position. Together, the sisters work to bring Thomas to the edge of the building.

The hatch of the berg opens and Vince and Minho are there with their hands out, calling for Thomas to grab on. The berg gets close enough for Vince to get a hold of Thomas' hand, but he drops it. The berg shakes, but they continue to try and get it closer. The fire around the teens continues to grow, and the building behind them continues to fall. With all of their energy, the sisters push Thomas through the air and into the berg.

They can hear the building behind them shift, and their friends yelling at them to jump, but it's almost quiet for Leanne. Teresa steadies her, holding her tightly. "I love you, Isla." Teresa cries. "I want you to know that. I've always loved you."

"I love you too, Deedee." Leanne smiles. Without warning, Leanne feels the ground below her disappear. Multiple pairs of hands grab onto her and hoist her up into the berg. "No!" Leanne screams, turning around to see Teresa on the roof. "Take my hand!" Leanne extends her hand out, watching Teresa with pleading eyes. "Please!" She sobs.

But it's too late. The building behind them falls onto the one where Teresa stands. Slowly, the roof behind Teresa begins to fall. And with it, Teresa falls as well. She looks up at them, and both sisters watch each other until Teresa disappears in the cloud of smoke and debris. And suddenly, Leanne feels more empty than before; she had lost two siblings tonight, and was beginning to lose herself.

She could feel a lull in her chest. An empty ache where something should've been. But what, exactly? Teresa? Newt? Or her own life that was slipping through the cracks of a broken foundation and a bruised body.

Leanne is pulled further into the aircraft by someone, but she can't see their face. The smoke filling her lungs makes it difficult to breath. The tears cloud her vision, but she can make out Thomas, and the people who crowd him, and try and bandage him up.

Leanne lays back, and she feels a pair of cold hands on her neck. Then, yelling. But she can't tell what they're saying; it's like they're blocked by glass. Her vision goes hazy as her breaths begin to shallow. She feels nothing. That empty feeling in her chest seems to spread everywhere, until she's paralyzed and it darkens her vision.

What she can't see is Minho performing CPR on her. She can't see Juno barely able to watch him do it in fear that it won't work, or Brenda standing to the side crying for she lose might another friend tonight. She can't even see Thomas, holding himself together just to know if she's okay. She doesn't see Thomas reaching for her hand, holding it so hard anyone would believe it was his lifeline.

All she sees is loneliness. Tired, dark, maybe even welcoming; loneliness.


	33. The Fall

**IT WAS BRIGHT.** The sun was bright and blinding and it pierced Leanne's skin like a blade. When her eyes snapped open, she could only focus on one thing; she was back in the Glade, standing in front of the Maze doors. Everything was sunny, peaceful. It seemed like a happy place, a safe haven.

"You couldn't save me, Leanne." A voice said from behind her. She spun around quickly to find herself face to face with Newt. However it wasn't quite him: his cheeks had hollowed out, his eyes looked blank. He truly looked dead. "You killed me." He snarled. "And you couldn't do anything to stop it." He raised his hand to wrap around her throat.

"Newt..." Tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm so sorry." She choked out as her tears fell down her face. She wasn't crying because she couldn't breath, she was crying because it was her fault. She couldn't save him. He was gone because of her.

"Sorry isn't enough, Lea." He tightened his grip around her neck. "Sorry won't bring me back." He paused before continuing. "Sorry won't bring any of us back."

It was only after those words that Leanne became aware of the people standing behind Newt. First, there was Deedee, beside her was a beautiful woman: their mother. Then, there was Chuck. Beside him stood Alby, and Ben, and Jack, and Zart, and Winston, and every other Glader she behind. One specific person caught her eye. The girl standing in the back of the group, with her long black hair and dark skin: Elliott.

Then, things began to blur. Leanne was dying. Was this was it felt like to die? Was this what every single person standing in front of her went through?

If this is what dying felt like, there was something peaceful about it. It was bittersweet, but there was something about the happiness tinged with sadness that made Leanne feel at home. She couldn't feel the pain of Newt's hands on her neck, she couldn't feel the pain of her cuts and bruises. Her bones didn't even ache from all the running. "Please forgive me." Leanne chokes. If she was dying, she wanted everything resolved. "Please." Her pleading eyes roam over the crowd of people. Eyes soften on her; she was their family. They were hers.

Leanne's eyes focused once, just enough to see Elliott walking up through the crowd of people and towards Newt. Elliott places her hand on Newt's shoulder, and spoke one, soft word. "Stop." And Newt did. He let her go and she fell to the ground. Elliott lowers her chocolate eyes to meet Leanne's. "We forgive you, Leanne." Her voice is soft and sweet. "We'll always forgive you. No matter what." She smiles softly. "We'll always love you."

"I love you, Lottie." Leanne cries. "And I miss you. So, so much."

Elliott helps Leanne stand up. "You don't have to miss me." Elliott takes her hands in her own. "You don't have to miss any of us, because we will always be with you." Her friends nod behind her. "Always." The word seemed to echo in Leanne's head.

"It's getting so hard to breath, Lottie." Leanne whimpers as she feels the pressure on her chest. "It's so hard to stay strong." And it was. There was a dark feeling that enveloped Leanne, and she wanted to push it away so badly. But she was so tired, and it wrapped itself around her like a thick blanket. She was so tired of running, fighting, and worrying. She was tired of the pain the world placed upon them. It was a cruel world, a merciless one that placed obstacle after obstacle in front of them, and Leanne couldn't help but wonder one thing; was this her last obstacle? Was this her goodbye? If this was her goodbye, she could die happily. She was surrounded by those she loved — those she had lost. The ones that lived would move on, just as Leanne would move on into her next life. A peaceful life.

"You have to fight, Leanne." Elliott takes a few steps back to join Newt's side. He wraps an arm around her shoulder, and she wraps one around his waist. Newt smiles softly at her. Leanne's gaze shifts over to Elliott, who nods. None of the people here wanted Leanne to join them. Not yet. They didn't want this peaceful life for her. They wanted her to fight. "You have to be brave."

"You have to be brave, Leanne." Chuck echoes, stepping forward in the crowd.

"He's right." Alby steps up to join the boy's side. "You were always strong for us. Now, you have to be strong for yourself."

"But what if I can't." Leanne whimpers softly. "What if it's too much."

"Nothing is too much for you." The blue-eyed, brown-haired woman walks to Leanne slowly. Her tan skin glistened as if it was coated with gold, and her brown hair as if gold streamers had been run through it. She glowed. "You've always been a fighter, sweetheart." Her mother places her hand on Leanne's cheek. "You have never once disappointed me." The glowing woman laughs, a smile resting on her face. "You've grown to be a beautiful woman, my dear Isla." The use of her real name sends a shock through Leanne's slowing system. It was so familiar on this woman's lips, and the sound of his tugged at Leanne's heartstrings. She wanted to hear her name on her mother's lips over and over again. It was beautiful. Her mother was beautiful. The touch of her hand on Leanne's cheek was beautiful; it was warm and it sent a tingling feeling through Leanne. The touch of a mother was something Leanne had never forgotten; she had longed for it for so long, and now that she had it, Leanne would let go of everything to keep it.

"I'm scared of dying, momma." Leanne's lip trembles. Everything was peaceful, but there was a fear to it. A fear that maybe it wasn't all sunshine and love once she left Earth.

"Don't be, sweetheart." Her mother takes a few steps back to stand beside Deedee. The two link hands. "Deedee and I will be with you the entire time."

Deedee smiles to Leanne. "Be the fearless girl I know you are, Isla." Deedee's eyes move across the field of the Glade.

The dying girl follows Deedee's gaze. Leanne's eyes focused for a second, and far away, across the Glade, was a figure. They were standing with their hand out, for her to walk over and grab. Like they wanted to bring her home. When the person shifted, and the light hit him right, she recognized the person immediately.

The last thing she remembers, is person's name falling off her lips in a whisper. "Thomas."


	34. The Safe-Haven

**THE SOOTHING SOUND** of crashing waves woke Leanne up. Her eyes peeled open to see Minho sleeping in a chair beside her. She sits up and sees that she's in a small shack. Early morning light seeps in through the cracks in the wood.

She slowly sits up, and reaches over to shake Minho's knee. "Minho, wake up." She whispers hoarsely. His head slowly raises.

He smiles softly at her. "Hey."

She frowns. "Where are we?" She pushes the light sheet off her legs, and looks down at her heavily wrapped ankle.

"We're at the safe-haven, Lea." He smiles. "We made it." Leanne stands up from the bed, wincing lightly, and Minho stands too, pulling her into a tight hug. She sniffles into his shoulder. "Hey, hey, it's okay." He rubs her back soothingly. "It's okay, Lea."

"I wish I could say that for a moment I thought he was still alive, but I can't, Minho. I can't because I can't get it out of my head." She pulls away from him to look up at his face. "Back in the berg, when I loss consciousness, I saw him." She smiles softly. "But I also saw Elliott."

Minho watches her carefully. "You saw her?"

"I was back in the Glade, and everyone who had died was there. Newt, he—" A lump forms in her throat but she swallows it down. "It's like he was the one choking me, killing me —instead of the smoke—." She smiles softly. "But Elliott came up, and she told him to stop."

Minho returns the soft smile. "She's your little guardian angel."

Leanne leans back in for another hug. "She's our guardian angel, Minho." When Leanne pulls away from the hug, she steps outside of the hut. Although it was early in the morning, people bustled around her. "When did we get here?" She frowns.

"Late last night."

"Hey!" Leanne turns around to see Juno making her way down to them. The two girls hug each other tightly.

"You better not pull anything like that off again." Minho warns, smiling at the two girls.

"Well wasn't Juno in the building too?" Leanne responds, turning to Juno. "Why were you in the building?"

"That's a story for another time."

A hand pushes the girls out of the way and Brenda squeezes past them to hug Leanne. It surprises her; the two were never close. Either way, she returns the hug just as tightly. Frypan and Gally hug Leanne, then she looks around at the group. "Where's Thomas?" She frowns.

The group around her silences for a moment. "He's still unconscious." Juno replies quietly.

"Do you want to see him?" Brenda steps forward, offering to take her.

Leanne thinks for a moment before shaking her head. "No, not right now." She watches Vince make his way over.

"I'm glad to see you're up on your feet." He smiles, pulling the girl into a small hug. "I thought we'd lost you there."

Minho scoffs. "She's a fighter." He smiles down at Leanne. "A damn good one."

Vince nods. "Why don't one of you girls take Leanne and give her a change of clothes?" He asks.

Brenda steps forward. "I'll take her." The girl leads Leanne towards a tent, and brings her inside. Boxes of clothing sit around, and Brenda gestures to the right side. "That side is the girls clothes."

"There's a lot here." Leanne points out as she begins to lift articles of clothing.

"I— I can help you look if you want?" Brenda offers quietly.

Leanne looks up at her and smiles. "I'd like that."

They dig through the clothing for a moment in silence, until Brenda inhales. "I know that we're not really friends, but I'm sorry, Leanne." Brenda smiles sadly. "It's hard, losing a sibling." Leanne's hands still for a moment before she continues to dig through the fabrics. "I lost my brother." Brenda pulls out beige trousers. "But it'll be okay." She unfolds them and shows it to Leanne. "It might take some time, but you'll learn to cope."

"Thank you, Brenda." Leanne nods, and takes the pants from the girls hands. "And, um, well I'd like to be good friends with you." Leanne smiles. "We just haven't had the time to talk much, have we?"

Brenda smiles, shaking her head. "No, but we will now."

After changing into the trousers and a black long sleeve, Leanne walks outside to see that Brenda's gone.

Leanne shrugs it off, and begins to walk out towards the outskirts of the haven. She passes a garden, then more buildings, and finally finds a row of trees where she can sit and watch the water from further back. Down the beach she can see people playing around in the sand and taking walks. She watches the friends laugh and play.

Small tears form in her eyes, but she wipes them away. Today shouldn't be a day of longing, it should be a day of happiness. Their war with WICKED was finally over.

But there was that sadness lingering over her. And she knew the others probably felt that sadness too.

Leanne doesn't know how long she sat there, but hours went by as she watched the people on the beach come and go. The crackle of wigs breaking sounded out behind her, but assuming it was just Minho or someone else coming to get her Leanne didn't bother looking up. The person sits down cross-legged beside her. She was surprised when she looks up at the person to see Thomas.

Her words get caught in her throat, so instead she launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as they both fall back into the grass. "Leanne!" He huffs out, smiling as he wraps his arms around her torso. "Ow." He mumbles quietly.

Leanne pushes herself off him and back into a sitting position. "Sorry." She laughs softly. "When did you wake up?"

"Just a couple minutes ago." He laces his fingers with hers softly. "They told me you'd been here since you had waken up."

Leanne shrugs. "It's just calming here." She looks out at the people on the beach. "I like watching the people, having fun, happy." She smiles. "It makes me happy."

**•••**

They had built a large bonfire and everyone sat around it, chatting quietly. Leanne watches her friends talk amongst themselves, a shimmer of happiness in their eyes. But she could still see the cloud of sadness hover over the happiness. A cloud she wished didn't have to be there.

Around her, the talking silences down as Vince walks out to stand in front of them. "We have come a long way together. So many have sacrificed so much to make this place possible." Leanne smiles softly. "Your friends," She reaches over to hold Juno's hand, who holds Brenda's. The girls smile between themselves. "And your family." Vince raises his glass in the air. "So here's to the ones who couldn't be here. Here's to the friends we lost." The rest of them copy his gesture, raising their glasses in the air. "This place is for you. It's for all of us." He nods. "But this," He twists to gesture to the rock behind him with the carving knife in his hand. "This is for them. So, in your own time, in your own way, come make your peace." He lodges the knife into a log beside him. "And welcome to the Safe Haven." He yells. The people clap and cheer loudly, and Leanne could tell that now, it was only happiness in the air. Freedom.

As the night grew darker the bonfire was built even bigger. People talked and laughed, enjoying the time together. Some people went up to the large rock to carve their loved ones names into it.

Leanne stood quietly beside Gally as her friends spoke amongst themselves. She would smile when others laughed, but didn't say anything. She wanted to enjoy this for as long as she could.

She watches Minho walk up to Juno and whisper something to her, then Juno shake her head. Minho smiles softly to her and walks back over to Frypan.

Leanne walks over to Juno, but before she can ask anything the brunette wraps her arms around her. "He used to mumble about a girl named Elliott, in his sleep." Juno says softly.

"She was—"

Juno shakes her head against Leanne's shoulder. . "You don't need to tell me. If Newt had wanted to tell me, he would have." She smiles softly, pulling away from Leanne. "She was his secret to tell." Juno reaches down to hold Leanne's hand. "I hope he's with her now."

Leanne smiles at Juno. She was happy Juno was so accepting. She didn't hold anything against anyone, not if they didn't deserve it. "He is." She nods. "I know it."

After leaving Juno, Leanne found herself huddled next to Minho; the air was beginning to grow cold. She wraps her arms around his torso and he slings his arm around her shoulders. "What's next?" Leanne wonders out loud.

"Who knows." Gally says as he comes to stand to their right.

Frypan comes to stand one to their left. "Hopefully nothing." He sighs. "I'm looking forward to some relaxing."

Leanne laughs softly, a smile resting on her face. "I agree with you, Fry." She looks up at the night sky, decorated with stars. "I'm tired of running."

Gally brings his hand to his chest, acting dramatic. "Did I just hear you right?" He smiles. "Did _Leanne_ of all people say she's tired of running."

Leanne laughs, leaning across Minho to swat the sarcastic boy. "I guess so." She shrugs. "For once, I actually miss the boredom."

"This place will be a good place for us." Minho nods.

And in that moment, a shooting star passed over their heads. "Make a wish." Frypan smiles.

Leanne watches it disappear quickly, but she doesn't make a wish. She didn't need to; what more could she want right now? A part of her would've wished for the people they had lost to come back — but that part of her was gone.

She had long been replaced with a stronger version of herself, a version she had WICKED to thank for. She wouldn't be okay immediately — none of them would. They needed time to heal. Some would take longer than others, but they would all support eachother.

She no longer thought of the impossible, because what could she think of? Everything was possible with her friends — her _family._ They would rebuild, she knew that. But tonight wasn't the time to be thinking about tomorrow. Tonight was a night of celebration. So for now, Leanne was just going to enjoy what she had

Or, maybe it was not actually that she didn't need to make a wish, it was that she didn't believe anymore. What good was a wish when the only one you wanted to make could never come true?

There were so many things people asked for, things they hoped for, and there was no way they would all be answered, but you had to keep asking. Because if you didn't ask, your wish would never have a chance of coming true.


	35. The Almost-Ending

**AS THE FIRE** continued to burn and everyone continued to laugh and dance, Leanne found herself wandering towards the large rock. Slowly, people had begun to carve in their loved ones names. Some people went together, others alone. Leanne was the second one; this felt personal. So, alone, she let her fingers trace the names on the rock.

Leanne felt the strongest urge to cry, but she held herself back. This was supposed to be something happy, but she felt like if she carved anyone's name into the rock it would be like saying goodbye, and she didn't want to say goodbye.

She wanted to wake up and find Teresa laying in the cot next to her, and walk out of the hut to find Newt tending to the garden. She wanted to find Chuck talking Thomas' ear off somewhere while Alby was yelling at her for running off into the Maze. She wanted to find Winston feeding the animals while Gally fixed up one of the broken animal fences. She wanted to find Frypan and Elliott arguing about what the next meal should be, or plotting their next escape plan because Elliott had never given up.

At first, she thought she missed the Glade, but the more she thought of it, the more she realized it wasn't the place she missed all that much. It was the people.

Things would never be the same here. Yes, she would make new friends, but they weren't her family. They weren't the people she battled Grievers with, or escaped WICKED with. They were people with different stories. And although the scenery would be a nice change, and would allow her to grow as a person, she just wanted to fall asleep and wake back up in the Glade. But now, only in her dreams would she see the Glade.

Which is why Leanne longed sleep so much. She wanted to fall asleep and go back to the simple days. Things would never be that easy again. When all they had to do was stay inside the walls of the Glade; when they had their food sent up to them and they were able to garden. Where the sun shined all day and the stars glowed bright at night. She would miss the bonfire parties with Gally's awful drink that would make her gag.

Leanne picks up a knife from a nearby log and begins to carve a name in. It felt like so long ago that she had lived this life. _Too_ long ago. She carved in the name of the first sister she truly remembered; Elliott.

Elliott had arrived in the Maze almost a year exactly before Thomas. When she arrived, she picked their lazy asses up and got them running. Leanne missed waking up and walking outside to see Lottie and Newt flirting without realizing it, and Minho teasing them. She missed the fun challenges that came with attempting their escapes; like climbing the Maze walls, and laying in the Box and watching the stars with Elliott while they hoped they could be brought down with it. Leanne has always been a spitfire, a force to be reckoned with, and when Elliott arrived, she calmed her. Elliott was the winter wind that soothed Leanne's summer sun.

The next name she carved in was harder. It was a fresh wound that would take long to heal. Leanne has to stop herself after the first letter and wipe away a round of tears that had begun to fall; she had lost two sisters in under two years. _Deedee_ would always be her real sister; Teresa was the version WICKED had created. But Leanne loved both of them.

As she finished up carving the names, Lea takes a step back to admire her work. Elliott and Deedee's names were up on the rock.

If anyone were to read their names, they would be no one to them. Another lost soul to the cruelty of WICKED. But to Leanne, those two girls were everything. And in the end, that's all that mattered.

Backing up to look at the names, Leanne felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. There seemed to be too many names she recognized. Names of family and friends, names of those she barely knew who had lost their lives for them. Names of the children of the Maze.

 _Beyond the walls_ of their mazes, a world had waited for them. It had taken years, but even now this world wasn't ready for the change these teenagers would bring. But really, who could prepare for the best thing to ever happen to them?


	36. The Forever Home

**_"I'M SCARED, DEEDEE."_ **

_"You don't need to be scared, Isla." Deedee smiles over at her. "I might not always be there with you physically," Deedee takes Leanne's hands and places them over her heart. "But I will always be here." Deedee moves her hands from Leanne's heart to Leanne's shoulders. "Now, you have to wake up, Isla." She shakes her shoulders softly. "Wake up."_

"Wake up, Leanne." Hands on her shoulders shake her gently as a weight settles itself next to her on the bed. Leanne opens her eyes slowly to see Thomas sitting on the edge of her bed. "Hey." He says softly, pressing his lips together. "You were talking in your sleep." Leanne sits up quietly, glancing over at the empty cot across from her. Thomas follows her eyes. "I was already awake." He explains, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Leanne nods slowly. "Sure."

Thomas stands from the bed, and walks over to the door. "I'll wait outside." He says quietly.

Leanne nods, then gets up. She pulls a sweater over her tank top and brushes her hair away from her face before walking out to Thomas, who stands in the grass a couple of meters away from the hut. They begin to walk further into the small village they had built. "I wanna make one stop." Thomas says nervously to her, wiping his sweaty palms against his pants.

Leanne frowns. She had never seen him nervous like this. "Okay?"

Thomas nods, but doesn't say anything. They walk a couple more feet before Thomas begins to turn left. Leanne follows him slowly, then realizes where they were walking; towards the large stone in the middle of the camp.

Leanne subconsciously stops in her steps. "Thomas." She says slowly. "Why are we walking over here?"

Thomas turns around to watch her carefully. "Well, I thought that since you and Teresa- well, you were sisters, so..." He walks back to her, stopping in front of her hesitantly. "I thought you should be the one to put her name up there."

Did she want to put Teresa's name up there? She wasn't sure. A part of her didn't want to. Teresa wasn't Leanne's sister, Deedee was, and she had already placed that name upon the rock. Teresa was who everyone else knew, but Deedee was hers. Deedee would only live on in Leanne's memory.

The more she thought of it, Leanne realized that Deedee wouldn't live on in her memory, she would live on in Isla's memory. It was just a question of if Leanne wanted to unleash Isla or keep her to herself just like Deedee. The girl from before the outbreak, who would tease Isla, and paint her nails, and stay up late together on Friday nights when their mom was taking a shift at the hospital, she was all _hers_. And that's all that mattered to her.

"Lea?" Thomas calls out after a minute of silence.

"I don't want to put her name up there, Thomas." He almost does a double-take when she says this. "You can do it."

Teresa was his memory of her. It was all he would ever know of the first girl he loved. So, Leanne thought it was right that he was the one to put her name up there.

Once he was done, Thomas turns back to look at Leanne. She wasn't watching him; she was admiring the water. She looked so calm and at peace that Thomas didn't walk towards her. Instead, he just admired her. His first love was Teresa, but he had those memories wiped clean. He couldn't remember loving her; not fully. He couldn't remember her like he remember Leanne, because he made new memories like those with Leanne. After he stung himself, he got his memories back. He could remember his times with Teresa, but they were in fragments. Everything was so broken up that he couldn't understand how he felt anymore. Not about Teresa, at least.

How he felt about Leanne was easier to understand. It was simpler, and it felt more powerful, but it was also different. Falling for Teresa had been long, over a period of years. But falling for Leanne had taken the air out of his lungs. Everything had been so quick; they were always rushing. Thomas couldn't even remember when he realized he loved her. Maybe it was when she let him leave the Maze without her, or when she was taken from him. Maybe it was even when he got her back from WICKED, off that train. He couldn't remember when, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter because he did love her now.

Thomas calls her name softly and she joins his side, walking down the beach slowly. The sand was cool between their toes as the waves washed up on the beach calmly. Everything was quiet; no one was awake, not even the birds.

Leanne enjoys the silence between them. It wasn't anything awkward, it was just calm. There was a sense of understanding between them. They would both handle Teresa and Newt's deaths in different ways, they would both long for them, but they would heal. They would come back from it, they would be better. _Together_.

Leanne didn't want to long for that anymore, though. She would miss them -those they had lost- but she knew that Newt wouldn't want her to hold herself back.

"You didn't get a letter?" Thomas asks suddenly. Leanne looks over at him, frowning. "From Newt?"

Leanne shakes her head. "I don't need one." And she didn't. It was the truth. "I know what he would've wanted." She shrugs softly, slowing her pace a little.

"And what's that?" He slows down to match her pace. Now, they were further out from the small village.

Leanne breathes in deeply before looking up at Thomas. It was now or never. "Well, first of all he'd want us to tell each other how we feel."

"And how do we feel?" Thomas stops walking beside her and looks down, grinning.

"I don't know, Thomas." She smiles, grabbing a handful of his shirt and pulling him down so his face lines up with hers. "How do we feel?"

Thomas' eyes roam from her eyes down to her lips, then back up at her eyes. Leanne takes the initiative, pulling the boy even close to place her soft lips on his.

This kiss was different from their first one back on the rocky beach what felt like ages ago. Although this kiss was just as slow and sweet, this one made Leanne's head spin as stars appeared behind her closed lids. She had to grab onto Thomas' arms so that her knees wouldn't buckle under her weight.

When Thomas did pull away from her to rest his forehead on hers, his eyes wandered over her face. They were full of warmth and passion, and something else she couldn't put a finger on, so much so that Leanne felt her skin flush bubblegum pink in embarrassment. She didn't pull away, though, for she knew her eyes were filled with just as much warmth and passion. Everything felt right. God, it felt so right. Leanne was happy. She could feel the warmth spreading through her chest and she thought she might combust under his touch; everything felt like it was exploding and it was supernova. Stars danced through Thomas' eyes as he watches her in admiration.

Words couldn't fathom explain how much love he held for the girl in front of him. This girl, she was his life. She was everything he held dearest and he was never going to let her go. He didn't want to let her go and she didn't want him to do so either. "I love you." He whispers quietly, a hush over the washing waves in the nearby distance. He lets the words drip over her skin like sweet honey, and she absorbs it all.

There wasn't a moment with Thomas that Leanne would come to regret; not now, and not ever. A smile tugs at her lips and she can't look away from his eyes; this was everything she'd ever wanted. "I love you, too."

Leanne wanted to lean back in for another kiss so badly, but instead she closes her eyes and relishes in the feeling of him. The smell of salt and oranges washes over her and she hums in happiness. She didn't need to lean back in for another kiss, for she knew that she would be able to do it again and again, forever and ever.


	37. Epilogue

_twelve years later._

This wasn't supposed to be happening. Not now, and if you'd asked Thomas, not ever. Ten years ago, they were still fighting people trying to revive WICKED.

This wasn't a part of the plan. This didn't add up with all of their calculations, and this certainly made things harder for Thomas. Then again, when had their lives ever been easy?

He had been out for a supply run with Minho when it happened. He was driving, they were talking about the reparations they needed to make to the community's hall, and Vince's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie they always kept on.

 _It's happening_.

Once the words were spoken, Thomas swung the car around so quickly Minho was sure they would flip over. However, even when he warned Thomas about his speed, the boy -well; man, now- did not slow down. In fact, he sped up instead. They had only been driving for twenty at the most, so at this speed Thomas could cut their return in half.

The car wasn't even fully stopped when he threw his door open and jumped out, ignoring Minho's yells and frantic movements to grab the steering wheel.

The people he passed offered him pitiful smiles, whilst others just shook their heads and went back to work. Whatever their reaction, they all felt bad for Thomas. Well, part of them felt bad.

As he neared the area where all their huts were placed, there were less and less people, until their was none. Thomas could hear Minho speaking to him from behind, but couldn't make out what the man was saying. The blood pumped through his veins quickly, pounding against his skull loudly as he ran. Then, his heart nearly stopped in his chest when he caught sight of the crowd that had formed outside the door of his hut. The view was almost too familiar; Leanne's screams, their friends crowding the door. It reminded him of the night she had gotten the majority of her memories back, when they were in the Glade.

But they were far from the Glade, and Leanne wasn't getting her memories back, she was about to make new ones.

People made a path for him, watching as he stepped up and closer to the cabin. He hesitated -noticeable to all of them- before pushing the door open. From the doorway, he could tell immediately that she was a sight for sore eyes.

Her hair was matted down with sweat, dirt was swiped on her cheeks and he was sure there would be some caked under her nails; she had been working in the garden again. Behind his back.

A cry left her lips and Thomas winced. He hated seeing her in pain. But, he couldn't stand there forever, and he was broken from his stupor when Kate McDonnell called his name softly.

Leanne only realized he was in the room then, and her eyes snapped up to him. Though she was in pain, and certainly mad at him for the position she was in, her eyes held so much love for the man that he felt his own eyes pool with tears. He blinked them down when Leanne stretched out her hand, gesturing for him to take it. This time, he moved without hesitation and settled into the chair beside her, holding her hand softly.

"Hi." He whispers softly, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"Hi? I'm going into labour and you're saying 'hi'?" She rolls her eyes, but squeezes his hand in return.

He could tell she wasn't actually mad, more so excited and nervous. Which he was too; actually, he thinks everyone was. Inside the hut, it was silence save for Leanne's heavy breathing, but outside the hut Thomas was sure they were all talking between themselves quietly.

Sure, other people had given birth at the camp in the past twelve years. Not many, but still some. However, Thomas and Leanne weren't "other people", they were known by everyone. So everyone was out there, waiting for news on the baby and the mother.

The news of Leanne's pregnancy had shocked everyone; even herself. Hell, when she figured it out she had sent a few swings Thomas' way. They certainly had not planned this, and they were sent into a stressful five months (it had taken Leanne a while to figure it out) of frenzy, trying to find baby supplies and stuff to comfort the future mother, who was not happy for the first while. But on the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month, when the baby kicked for the first time, Leanne found herself excited for this new life. Things were comfortable in the safe-haven, and there was no complaining on Leanne's part (well, serious complaining).

After Teresa and Newt's deaths there was a hole in Leanne's heart. Something was missing, and it was only twelve years later that Leanne found herself feeling better. Truly better. She finally had something to look forward to.

And Thomas, well, he took a little more convincing. He in no way wanted to loose Leanne, and their lack of real medical equipment was stressful enough to begin with. To add onto that, Leanne was absolutely stubborn and refused to sit on the sidelines while everyone did their share of work. Thomas had come back from too many runs to find Leanne bent over in the gardens pulling weeds. And each time was the same; Juno would get an earful from Thomas, and then Brenda would get an earful from Juno. They had a system in place to make sure the stubborn woman got her rest, but she still found ways to get past them.

Another painful groan left Leanne's lips and Thomas winced again. But, he wouldn't leave her side for his own benefit, so he gripped the side of the bed tightly with his free hand, and they waited.

Brenda and Kate shuffled around the room, preparing for the coming baby. There were blankets, a bassinet filled with water, wash clothes and more. For the first time since the news of the new life brewing, Thomas realized just how much he had not been paying attention. Sure, he had been on the vast majority of runs to search for baby items, and he always kept his eye on Leanne to make sure she was safe, but that was just it; he had been too preoccupied keeping his family safe that he hadn't taken the time to just enjoy this miracle. And now, it was happening and he wasn't sure he was ready. Truly, though, he would probably never be ready.

"Screw you." Leanne hisses as another contraction hit.

"Isn't that how you got into this position?" Brenda cocks her head to the side, earning only a low groan in return as the contraction passes, but a pain lingers.

"Okay." Kate interrupts their snarky remarks. "I need you to push during the next contraction. Can you do that, Leanne?"

"Yeah." She whimpers softly, her mood drastically changing from the annoyance she held seconds ago. Her cheeks were tinted an orchid pink, her lips parted as her chest heaved for air and her grip on Thomas' hand was so tight he was sure she would break it. Though, he couldn't complain because she was delivering his child.

Thomas pries his hand out of hers, pressing a quick kiss to Leanne's temple and mumbling that he'll be right back. Then, be approached Brenda, who stands in the corner of the room prepping emergency medical supplies. God, he hopes they don't need any of it.

"Did you give her anything for the pain?" Thomas asks Brenda softly, careful to keep his voice down.

Brenda stops, the corner of her lips tugging downwards pitifully. "We couldn't." She sighs. "It's too late now. The baby wasn't due for another three weeks, Thomas. We weren't ready for anything."

Thomas runs a hand over his face, his shoulders dropping in defeat. Brenda watches as he composes himself quickly, and she finds her pity growing. Thomas was dependant on Leanne, and Brenda herself couldn't imagine one without the other. Now, watching Leanne in pain and Thomas hurting just as much, she worried. Thomas couldn't lose his wife, that much was obvious. He would lose himself without her, and the safe-haven needed Thomas; people looked up to him.

He could remember one night, where reality had set in that they were having a baby.

_The day had been long for Thomas; he had left on a run in the early morning, then returned in the late evening to attend a meeting about extending their planting areas. By the time the meeting finished, it was dark outside and he was swamped. He hadn't seen Leanne all day, and he was avoiding eye contact with everyone so he could get back to their home uninterrupted. All he wanted to do from the moment he got up was get back into bed and just be with her. They didn't get much time together, him being up higher in the ranks of the Council and her being a medic. But, they made it work because it was important to them._

_Luckily, that night he made it back to their home without being called over for another job or just someone with questions; he swore everyone there would never truly settle._

_Thomas could hear her humming before he opened the door. It was a habit she had picked up while working in the medical huts and teaching Brenda, who had taken an interest in the medical jobs around the safe-haven._

_He pushed the door open, a soft smile forming at the scene in front of him. Leanne was twirling around softly, hands resting in her growing belly. Her eyes were closed in bliss, and her lips were tugged up in a soft smile of her own. She heard the door close gently, but kept swinging from side to side even when Thomas came up to stand behind her, his own hands resting on her bump as they swung together._

_Thomas could remember feeling so overwhelmingly happy he thought he would burst with satisfaction. Even when they stilled, they stayed standing, simply enjoying the quiet peace they rarely got in the bustling safe-haven._

_Then, when she grew tired, Thomas helped her into their bed and joined her, holding her close to his side and listening as her breathing slowed and their baby kicked occasionally._ Their _baby._

Thomas is broken from him memory when a small cry leaves Leanne's lips. Kate tells Leanne to push, but Thomas is so focused on Leanne that he doesn't even realize what's happening until the sound of cries fill the room.

And then, it's like a weight is lifted off his shoulders. Everything turns out to be okay. Everything is now in place. They never thought they would be here, but in this world they had to adapt.

"It's a girl," Brenda coos, helping Kate as they sweep the baby away to the corner of the room to clean her.

Leanne slumps back on the bed, finally relaxing. This moment, dreaded though it should have been looked forward to, was finally over. She could breathe now.

A weight was lifted off Leanne's shoulders; they could be safe. The safe-haven was secure, and Mother Nature was repairing herself. Eventually, they could be normal. Well, as normal as possible. They would adapt, and everything would be different, but this was a new beginning. They had put a lot of work, blood and lives into this, but they could finally grow without worry.

A smile graces Thomas' face and he leans forward to press a kiss to Leanne's forehead. His lips linger and he closes his eyes, listening to the sound of her breathing even out at the baby's cries die down.

Kate brings the baby to Leanne and places in the mother's arms.

"You did it." Thomas mumbles against her temple.

"I'm never doing that again." Leanne jokes softly, her eyes unable to pull away from the baby on her chest.

That was a lie, because three years later they'd be welcoming a little boy, and Leanne would love more than she ever thought possible. She wouldn't find herself running away from her future as fast as a bullet, she would find herself running towards it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Leanne's story:)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this! I'm so grateful to you all!


End file.
